Chemistry for Werewolves 101
by Laren Goldstar
Summary: CHAP21UP!Dumbledore's muggle goddaughter is staying at Grimmauld Place; Remus is about to learn that muggles really can be very, very interesting people...pls r&r! COMPLETE
1. Introduction

Disclaimer: I so clearly do not own any of this – I mean – honestly – would I be posting this here if I did. NO – it all belongs to the ever great J.K. (despite the fact that she had to go and kill off Sirius – she'd better be planning on bringing him back, now.)

            Remus Lupin walked heavily into the kitchen at No.12 Grimmauld Place. Finally – the full moon was over, and he'd emerged from his room after sleeping most of the day away. Now, he thought, some really hot chocolate would be amazing. Maybe with marshmallows – did they have any? His stomach grumbled loudly as he fantasized about roasted marshmallows. Suddenly his musings were interrupted by a soft. "Ow! Oh, damn" coming from the kitchen.

            He froze. He did not recognize that voice. Molly Weasley was visiting her children at Hogwarts and Tonks was busy on Order duty. And there was no way that any of the other female Order members were here – he was certain that he'd never heard this person before. Listening intently, he caught the sounds of soft scuffling, followed by a muted chopping. He remained still for a minute, and then proceeded quietly to the kitchen door with his wand hidden by his side.

            He'd barely opened the door when a pleasant female voice nervously called out. "Hello?" When he didn't respond, she tried again. 

            "Hello – uh – Mr. Lupin?"

            Remus opened the door to find a nervously smiling young woman looking back at him. He was right – he'd never seen her before.

            "Yes…" he began, although hesitantly. 'Calm down, Remus' he told himself 'she couldn't get in here unless she'd been told to by Dumbledore.'

            "That's me." He finished, and the young woman visibly relaxed, breaking into a smile.

            'Well' Remus mused, lowering his wand slightly. 'If she kills me, I'll die to one of the most beautiful smiles I've ever seen.'

            "Oh, good" she said, moving towards him after putting down a rather sharp looking knife. She held out a hand. "I'm Sarah Brenton – I don't know if Albus mentioned me?"

            Remus shook the proffered hand, nodding in reply to her question. So this was the goddaughter that Albus was talking about. 'I thought she was a little girl – not older, and quite – so  - pretty.' Sarah's long shiny chestnut curls and brown eyes had definitely caught his fancy. "You must be Albus' god daughter." He smiled at her, and felt deeply rewarded when she returned the favour.

            "Yes." Sarah said, picking up the knife again and proceeding to the counter. "So you know that I'll be living here for a few months then? I hope I don't bother you – Uncle Al said that you would most probably be the most frequent visitor."

            Remus had begun to reassure her that she would not be any trouble when her last sentence caught his ear. "What" he began "did you call Professor Dumbledore? Uncle – Al?" Before he could stop himself, laughter erupted as he pictured a small child calling the venerable old man 'Uncle Al' in a high voice.

            "Well…" Sarah said, somewhat apologetically. "He is my godfather, and really the closest thing I have to a grandfather"

            "Oh, no, no." Remus gasped for air. "No, I understand – it's just – hard to imagine- old Professor Dumbledore – Uncle Al…" Fresh laughter burst out.

            Sarah smiled mischievously. "I used to get the greatest kick out of tormenting him in staff meetings at Hogwarts. Oh, back when I could get away with anything." Remus snorted as he imagined a small child tugging on Dumbledore's robes and peppering him with questions. "Aaactually no." Sarah said, not realizing what she was doing. Thankfully, Remus didn't either. "I did that to Professor McGonagall. I think Uncle Al used to send me to her just to get on her nerves."

            "Anyway" she said, rather suddenly. "You wouldn't happen to want some Dominican style scrambled eggs, would you?" Remus began to decline but his stomach betrayed him  - he was hungry from his transformation.

            "Here, let me help" he said, and moved towards her. She protested until he said. "Nonsense – you're a guest –and look, you're even doing it the hard way" and proceeded to pull out his wand. Sarah fell silent. So Uncle Al hadn't told them, then. Which means they probably also didn't know about her-

            "Sarah – is something wrong?" Remus asked. She was quiet and her cheeks were flushed with – was that embarrassment?

"Oh!" Sarah came back to the brightly lit kitchen. "No – I'm… well, I was doing it this way because this – this is the only way I can do it. I can't do magic." She said slowly. "I'm a muggle."

Please please please review – this is my first fanfic – see, look at that nice review button – you know you want to review!


	2. Dealing and Moving On

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I still don't own any of this!!! (but I do own the plot and Sarah and any other people possibly yet to come that you don't recognize!)

AN: thanks to my reviewers!!! And this chapter is for my amazing friend mistress_thunder (and you know why! You rock, girl!) Okay! On with the story.

Chapter 2. Dealing and Moving On

            Remus looked up from the book he was reading as a soft 'pop' announced the arrival of Albus Dumbledore.

            "Hello, Remus!"  the old man said, looking supremely cheerful. 'Some things never change.' Remus thought wryly.

            "How are you today, professor?" Remus politely responded, laying aside his book. The cheerful expression shortly faded, giving way to a concerned one.

            "I should be asking you that, Remus." Dumbledore gently replied.

            Remus was silent. Both he and Dumbledore knew that nothing Remus could say would even come remotely close to how he was feeling at that moment. Indeed, until Sarah had arrived a week previously, he had been ready to leave Grimmauld Place and never come back. To hell with 'getting over' Sirius's death. He'd done that 15 years ago for the best friends he'd ever known and he definitely didn't need to go through it all over again. All the old Black house did was remind him of what he'd lost at every corner. The massive remodeling that had been undertaken in the summer had done nothing for Remus, who still heard Sirius's voice echoing in his memories. But now, Sarah's presence was helping somewhat to drown out some of the echoes – she was a happy, vibrant person. In the silence, he could almost hear her voice. In fact…

            "Uncle Al?" Sarah called from out in the hall. She came in, smiling exuberantly at her godfather. "Hey Remus." She said, and promptly launched herself at a very pleased Dumbledore. "Uncle Al!!" 

            "Air would be delightful, if you don't mind, my dear." Dumbledore said. Sarah released him, rather embarrassed, but clearly happy to see him. Remus pushed thoughts of Sirius out of his mind as he chuckled at the two of them.

            "I was wondering when you were going to come by." Sarah said, plopping down onto one of the drawing room's armchairs.

            "Sarah's been going nuts with only me here and the occasional visitor." Remus said. "I've been ever so boring." He grinned at her. Just the day before she'd been cajoling him to come out with her and Bill, whom she'd taking an instant liking to, and he to her.  "Don't be a boring old man, now." Bill had teased Remus, who had nonetheless insisted on staying home with his books.

            "More like the other way around." Sarah said. "You staying, grandpa?" Remus was momentarily floored. 

            "Grandpa??" he asked, confused. "I thought…you were her… I mean, Sarah, you said you were a muggle  - didn't you?"

            Dumbledore chuckled at the younger man's confusion. Just a second ago he'd seen the utter despair cross his face as he thought about Sirius. Now, he was totally consumed with trying to figure out the young woman sitting in the chair next to him. 'Ah, Sarah,' he thought fondly. 'I think you'll be good for him, you know.'

            Sarah's eyes narrowed at her godfather, and he frowned. 'Did Remus notice – I wonder – did he notice that she called my name _before_ she came in?'

            "I'm her godfather, Remus." He responded, back to his cheery mood. "Sarah just takes great enjoyment in periodically reminding me that I am considerably more chronologically advanced than all you children gallivanting about nowadays." He gave Sarah a stern glare when she laughed. "And I'd just arrived, _child._" he directed the last comment very much at Sarah "And do you know, I think I may just stay for dinner."

            Remus groaned as Sarah clapped her hands. An extremely perceptive old man who would quickly realize that he was either wallowing in misery about Sirius, or perhaps enjoying the company of said old man's goddaughter a tad too much was not what he needed right then. "Excellent!!" Sarah was saying. "Remus cooked!"

            Turning to Remus she said, "You cooked, right?"

            *            *            *            *            *            *            *            *            *            *            *          

            Luckily for Sarah, Remus had cooked. It wasn't that she was bad at it, as she vigorously insisted to the men – but they were wizards, and the majority of the kitchen appliances in Grimmauld Place were NOT muggle-proof. This was accepted until Remus pointed out that on the day he'd met her, she'd been cooking all by herself without prior instruction. Much to Sarah's dismay, it was then decided, courtesy of 'the meddling old man' and 'ooh-he-thinks-he's-bad-he-can-make-lasagna-Remus' that she would be preparing dinner for the next evening. She glared at them for a second before brightening considerably.

            "Oh, that won't work." She sighed dramatically, "I have to be out tomorrow night – I have to work."

            "Is that where you were last night?" Remus inquired. "Did you even come back yesterday?"

            Sarah shot him a look of death, and even Dumbledore looked at him disapprovingly.

            "Not that it's my business, of course," Remus hastily backtracked. "I just – I meant that you must have an interesting job. You go out at really random times – but you're not an order member."

"Oh, yeah." Sarah relaxed considerably, but Remus didn't miss the quick look that she gave Dumbledore, which was returned with a miniscule shake of the head. "Yeah, it's an interesting job." She said. "And no, I wasn't out all night – I got back around 3 in the morning."

            "3 in the morning," Remus mused. "So that wasn't a dream I had – that was you. What were you wearing? I haven't seen muggle clothes like that before?" he asked curiously.

            Sarah grinned impishly, but Dumbledore beat her to it. "Remus Lupin!" he said, sounding indignant. "I entrust my precious goddaughter to your care-"

            "I can take plenty care of myself!" Sarah sat up straight. Dumbledore continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "-and this is how you repay me? By dreaming about my little girl?!?!" he had risen to his feet, looming over a very red Remus.

            " It wasn't actually a dream, sir," he stammered, lapsing into schoolboy mode. " I actually saw her – didn't you hear her say…" he didn't have the courage to finish off his sentence in the face of Dumbledore's anger.

            "ARE YOU QUESTIONING MY SANITY, BOY?" Dumbledore shouted. Remus looked to Sarah for help, but she had fled the room and he could hear muffled peals of laughter coming from outside. " If you thought that seeing my goddaughter last night was a dream" he poked Remus in the chest with a finger. "That means that either you have been dreaming about her or you want to dream about her. Both of which – AND TO THINK I TRUSTED YOU!"

            'Okay.' Thought Remus. 'this is it. He's finally lost his marbles. Well, with all the pressure, I don't blame him. It was bound to happen someday…' he looked at Dumbledore, who had thrown up his hands in utter frustration and was stalking out of the room, muttering something about, "Where's that girl? She needs to get herself packed so we can leave as soon as possible! The nerve of that boy!" Remus looked horrified at the door after him. Okay – Dumbledore losing his grip on sanity was terrifying enough, but taking away Sarah, whose company he was thoroughly grateful for…

            He was just about to get up and go after the older man when Dumbledore himself burst through the door, tears running down his face as he shook with laughter, Sarah following close behind in a similar state. He stared open mouthed at them for a few minutes before it hit him.

            "Oh no." he said staring them down. His own death glare had no effect on the two of them, who were both presently occupied with attempting to breathe normally. "That- Was- Not- Funny!" he ground out from gritted teeth. Unfortunately, this only set Sarah off all over again. Dumbledore was more successful in containing himself, and soon found it necessary to conjure Sarah a glass of water. Seeing the look on Remus's face, he quickly excused himself, and, after a quick goodbye to Sarah, who was still liable to break into giggles every now and then, apparated back to Hogwarts.

            "Oh, Remus." Sarah said, once she was finally capable of normal human speech. "Oh, I'm sorry – but  - oh, you walked right into that one. Don't you know what my darling godfather is like?" She smiled apologetically at him, although Remus had a sneaking suspicion that she wasn't at all sorry and would have jumped on him if Dumbledore hadn't got to him first. For now, he decided to let it go. After laughing, her cheeks were flushed and her eyes still sparkling from the tears that had been pouring down her face moments before. In short, Remus couldn't find it in him to ignore her when she was looking at him like that.

            "Oh well." He sighed. "I suppose I did"

            "You should have seen your face when he…" Sarah trailed off, as Remus looked rather threatening at that point. "And I'll just go to bed now, what with being out late last night and all, you know." she mumbled, and ran lightly up the stairs, calling "Night, Remus!" after her as she went. Remus shook his head and climbed the stairs slowly after her. The rather large serving he'd had at dinner was definitely taking its toll, and soon the house fell silent as both of its occupants slept soundly through the night. 

AN: What do you think???? Please, please review and let me know – any ideas or comments are much appreciated!!! – Laren


	3. The Job

Disclaimer: yep, I own nothing of this, don't sue me (but Sarah's mine, as is the plot (I think!) and so are Michael and Nolan)  
  
A/N Thanks to everyone who reviewed: just a quick note to Kitsune Classic – no, Sarah is not a squib! She's pure muggle – I don't know if you thought that she was Dumbledore's granddaughter or something – it says that she's his goddaughter. And I have plans for her, so wait and see! By the way, this is a repost, there were a couple mistakes the first time around. Also, a great big thanks to my girl here at school for helping me get over my writer's block.  
  
On with the story!!  
  
Chapter 3: The Job  
  
"Wow," Sarah breathed as the brick archway to Diagon Alley closed behind her. "I don't care how many times I go there – it's such a ..."  
  
"Magical experience?" Remus quipped. Sarah groaned and slapped his arm playfully.  
  
"Actually," she laughed, "Yes, it is a magical experience".  
  
They strode through the Leaky Cauldron, Sarah getting a few stares due to her obviously muggle clothes. Dressed in a three-quarter length cream sweater, navy blue jeans, a knee-length fitted woolen jacket and high- heeled boots it was impossible to mistake her for a witch. Remus chuckled as he looked down at her boots. "You know," he whispered in her ear, "You could kill someone with those spikes!" Sarah laughed and walked on ahead of him, miraculously without falling over and even adding what Remus considered a rather distracting sway of the hips.  
  
It was about the third week in October and the weather was proving unusually nippy. Just before stepping into muggle London, Remus swiftly transfigured his robes into slightly less conspicuous muggle clothing, complete with a smart leather jacket of his own design that Sarah thoroughly approved of. "Oooh!" she said, feeling the soft material. "So how long does this last for, then – it's amazing!"  
  
"Not more than a few hours" Remus said, somewhat sadly.  
  
"Shame," Sarah continued. "Goodness you have such style!"  
  
Remus pretended to look hurt. "Oh, I can see how it'd be such a surprise, being the frump I am!"  
  
Sarah looked momentarily horrified at having brought up the issue of Remus's less than ideal financial state of affairs, which were all too evident through his daily clothing, but he smiled at her and brushed it off. He laughed inwardly as she tried to eye him without him noticing. Sure, he didn't have the money to keep his clothes up to date. This did not mean, however, that he didn't know how to dress when given the chance...  
  
"Well," Sarah had been talking for a couple of minutes while he'd drifted. "I'll have to hold your hand, then."  
  
"WHAT!" Remus spluttered, but quickly calming down upon seeing the slightly hurt look on Sarah's face. "I mean – not that I don't want to hold your hand – I mean – I don't want to - uh – well - " Sarah arched an eyebrow, clearly amused by Remus's stammered explanation. "Just – well don't you think you're a little too old for that? We won't be separated that easily."  
  
Sarah laughed. "You weren't listening to me, were you? I said that you looked good-" at this more splutters came from Remus "- and I bet you anything that at least one girl will try to pick you up. And maybe a guy or two, for that matter..." she said the last part under her breath, but Remus caught it and looked terrified.  
  
"So, I'll just pretend to be your girlfriend and basically hold your hand as a 'back off, he's mine' kind of sign. Kapish? I know that we won't get separated that easily, but between what you do and what I do, there's a pretty big chance that we could be. And it's getting late out. I'm not having the best of feelings about stuff in general right now."  
  
"Okay." Remus had to take a second to recover from the barrage of explanations thrown his way. "Sounds good." Suddenly a thought occurred to him. "Hang on – when you said between you do and I do- what did you mean?" Sarah cut him off by taking his hand and leading him inside a crowded store.  
  
"Oh, this is not good. I don't like this, Remus." Remus agreed wholeheartedly; he'd never been one for crowded places. It brought back memories of a long ago shopping trip that Lily had taken James on, who in turn had brought along Remus and Sirius for 'moral support'. After that one excursion he'd vowed never to go shopping with a woman again. Yet here he was, albeit at Dumbledore's insistence. At least Sarah seemed to share his obvious dislike of the situation.  
  
"It'll take too long to get out of here if..." Sarah looked around the crowded store, scanning for exits.  
  
'I wonder why she's thinking about that – just how much has Dumbledore told her about the Order, anyways?' Remus mused to himself. "What's going on here, then?" he asked instead.  
  
"It's a sale." Sarah explained. "This store has some great deals. Just my luck – I promised my grandma I'd get her something from here and today is the last day I can get it. Oh well. Keep and eye out for anything suspicious, kay?"  
  
"I always am." Remus assured her, growing more and more confused as Sarah grew visibly more and more concerned. She'd already said that things didn't feel right – but usually his own heightened werewolf senses would have picked something up if something were truly wrong. What on earth was going on?  
  
For the next few minutes, thought, it seemed that his fears were unfounded. He and Sarah navigated their way through the throng to the china and glassware section of the home decoration floor. "Molly would love this place!" Remus looked around at the various items about him. Sarah picked up a beautiful bone china plate with a delicate gold line running around the rim. He lifted up a long stemmed crystal glass that had a pattern of whirls etched into it.  
  
"Really?" Sarah asked, picking up another plate, this one with a deep burgundy line running intertwined with the gold pattern beside the first. "Which one?" she asked Remus.  
  
"What's your grandmother like?" Remus asked in response.  
  
"Regal" Sarah answered. "Elegant – not fussy, but classy. You know, she probably already has a white and gold set."  
  
"The second one it is, then." Remus said, putting the other plate back for her.  
  
"Yes, I -" Out of nowhere Sarah stiffened, the chosen plate slipping from her fingers only be caught thanks to Remus's excellent reflexes.  
  
"Sarah?" he looked at her. She was staring off to the side; at what he had no idea. "Sarah!!" he tried again, with no success. "Sarah!" he grabbed her arm and slowly she turned towards him – but for a split second it seemed to Remus that she was looking right through him. Her lips moved as if to form words, but no sounds came out.  
  
"Sarah!!!! He said urgently, attracting the attention of a couple of shoppers close by. Remus was panicking. He had no idea what was happening, and he was in the middle of a crowded muggle store that had those annoying security cameras everywhere; there was no way he could apparate to Grimmauld Place.  
  
Suddenly Sarah snapped back to life. "Remus!" she hissed every bit as urgently at him; he was occupied looking around wildly for exits. "Remus we need to get out of here NOW!"  
  
"Merlin, Sarah! What happened? Sarah?" Remus felt himself being pulled through the crowd towards the stairs in the middle of the store. Sarah didn't seem to be in the slightest bit concerned about pleasantries. She was shoving her way through, trying to get to the crowded stairs as fast as possible.  
  
"Remus, trust me on this – we need to get out of here now! Did you see any doors other than the front?"  
  
"No..." Remus said, trying to catch his breath. Despite the crowds, Sarah was cutting through them at an alarming rate. "What's wrong with the front door?"  
  
Standing partially hidden behind a family, Sarah stopped near the top of the stairs and looked at the main entrance. Just beyond it, with their backs to the store, were a group of men; obviously armed and obviously making sure that she didn't get out. She looked down to the floor below her, and saw a potential path through the crowds. But it would be too late if she waited to go down the stairs...  
  
"Damn!!!" She said, momentarily letting go of Remus's hand to run it through her hair in frustration.  
  
"Deatheaters?" Remus's hand went instantly to his wand.  
  
"I almost wish – no, people I deal with." She sighed. "You can't do magic here, Remus, they'll open fire on you!"  
  
'Sounds like Deatheaters to me' Remus thought. "What are you doing?" he asked, as she placed a hand on the rail of the stairs.  
  
"Wizards bounce, right?" Sarah half joked. "Well, we're jumping down to there, and then just follow me, fast as you can"  
  
"What?!" Remus protested. He was about to say that she was crazy, that they should walk quickly and calmly to the front door and then apparate when he caught a glimpse of her 'people'. It wasn't much, but it was enough to tell him that whoever they were, they were well armed and unlike him, willing to use whatever they had at their disposal in a crowded place.  
  
He took one final look at the 15 foot drop, then quickly followed Sarah, who had already gracefully vaulted off the edge of the rail. He somehow managed to land on his feet without breaking anything or attracting too much attention. Sarah was already running in a path that just seemed to open up as she ran – it was as if she'd landed running. Tearing after he, he began to be grateful that he'd kept fit working for the Order over the summer – Sarah was moving incredibly fast – through a small door at the back, past startled employees and then through another door. Behind him he could vaguely hear an uproar as shoppers were pushed out of the way. 'They're coming.' He thought, terrified.  
  
Remus Lupin had fought many a Deatheater and was known as an excellent wizard, but he couldn't do magic here, and so he was in utterly unfamiliar territory. Suddenly Sarah burst through a door that lead out into a back alleyway. It was dead quiet except for the harsh clanging of the door against the brick as Remus followed her through. As he looked at Sarah, he did a double take. She had stopped and was moving out to the street beyond, but she had out what he supposed were two muggle guns.  
  
"Sarah?" he whispered, confusion momentarily replacing fear.  
  
"Magic still won't be any good." She said, almost apologetically. "Can you fight?"  
  
"I can throw a few punches..." Remus said, apprehensively. "Will I have to?"  
  
"Almost certainly. But just in case – keep that wand handy." They walked out onto the seemingly deserted street and instantly found themselves surrounded. There were at least fifteen men and women there; Remus felt his stomach plummet. 'Funny' he thought. 'I've dedicated most of my adult life to the fight against an evil wizard who goes around killing muggles and here I am about to be killed by a group of muggles. Isn't life ironic.'  
  
"Hello, Miss Brenton," one of the men said, rather coldly. "I see you've brought your boyfriend with you this time. Decided you needed some protection?"  
  
"Not at all, Nolan." Sarah replied, steel in her voice. "I just though I'd make it a bit more fair for you, that's all."  
  
"Why you little bi-" and with that he rushed at her. Remus tried to look out for Sarah at first but failed as he saw a woman pull out a gun. Ducking, he swung out a leg and managed to bring down the man standing behind him, who promptly received the shot that had been meant for him. Glancing again towards where he thought she would be, heart racing, he was surprised to see her flip back and forth in the air, firing out and taking down at least 4 people in a few seconds. Suddenly she threw her guns down, and swinging out an arm at the nearest attacker, used him as a support as she went completely over backwards, delivering a lethal kick in the head to the person behind the first man, whose gun she had somehow managed to procure during the flip and was now firing it directly behind-  
  
"REMUS!" she yelled "BEHIND YOU!" Fire roared through his veins as a bullet ripped through his arm. He stumbled but managed to reflexively kick out at the next person trying to get to him. Hitting them with his good arm, he kept them moving backwards until a punch sent the person's head flying back into the brick wall at the other side of the street. The man slumped to the ground, and Remus was suddenly aware of the silence around him. He looked up – Sarah was standing over the man who had talked to her – Nolan, was it? – and had her boot heel pressing into his ribcage, a gun pointed at his head. Looking at the other bodies, he realized that the rest of them were either dead or unconscious.  
  
A roaring noise filled the street, and a smooth silver car pulled up as close as possible; a military style truck soon followed it. A man got out of the car, tall and broad shouldered, in a black leather jumpsuit that seemed familiar to Remus.  
  
"Hang on." He said to himself. "That's what Sarah was wearing that night."  
  
"Sarah." The man's deep voice rang out. The truck doors opened and several people came out and began setting things up, checking the bodies and survivors.  
  
"Hey, Michael." Sarah sounded tired. "Got Nolan here."  
  
Michael went closer. Sarah removed her boot from Nolan and pulled him up. He was promptly handcuffed by Michael, and taken away by one of the various 'army muggles' as Remus deemed them roaming around the street.  
  
"You okay?" he asked, concerned.  
  
"Yeah." Sarah answered. "We were ambushed." She motioned for Remus to come over.  
  
"Remus, my boss, Michael Callahan, Michael, a good friend of mine, Remus Lupin." Remus put his arm out to shake and suddenly pain coursed through him. "Remus!!" Sarah cried out, anxiously. "You're shot – oh thank goodness it didn't hit the bone." She looked at the arm where the bullet had clearly gone straight though.  
  
"Michael, I'll need to take Remus home." Michael nodded, and started to walk away. "Nice to meet you Mr. Lupin, despite the circumstances. Sarah, I expect you and a full report in my office tomorrow morning, first thing."  
  
"Yes, sir." Sarah called back. She and Remus were already moving back towards the alley behind the store where no one would see them apparate. Arriving back at Grimmauld Place, Remus quickly directed Sarah to his room upstairs, where he kept some healing potion in the event that he hurt himself after a transformation. Sarah insisted on cleaning him up, all the while Remus was eerily silent.  
  
All this began to unnerve Sarah. "Remus!" she begged. "Say something!"  
  
He looked at her, eyes so serious that she looked down after a few seconds. "So." He said. "That's what you do."  
  
A/N: ooh!! What happens now? (dun dun dun!) well now you'll just have to review and give me lots of comments and ideas if you want to find out! (and if you want to have a say in what happens next, ideas would be greatly appreciated) - Laren 


	4. Understanding and Revelations

Disclaimer: I own nada, with the exception of Sarah, Nolan and Michael (and whoever else I come up with) as well as the plot

A/N: do you people like this? If so, review and let me know!! Also, does anyone want to draw any fan art for this? I would love a good pic of Sarah and especially Remus, seeing as I'm abysmal when it comes to drawing guys. And – what colour are Remus's eyes?  (I don't have any hp books handy right now)

Chapter 4: Understanding and Revelations

            "So" Remus said. "That's what you do."

            Sarah's heart sank. Remus's voice sounded so dead – not disappointed or upset, but dead. After a few seconds, in which neither said anything, she gathered her courage and looked up at him. Remus was looking off to the side, seemingly absorbed by a painting on the wall.

            "Remus – God, I'm so sorry. I should have told you to go and apparate back home; they wanted nothing with you! I got you hurt – I'm so sorry, Remus." Sarah had been mentally kicking herself ever since Nolan had taunted her for bringing her 'boyfriend'. She knew that she should have taken care of things herself, Remus wouldn't have left her without an explanation, and it would have been too late at that point.

            "Remus," she took his hand into hers. "I – I should have told you earlier; then you would have known to leave." Her voice shook slightly. "I guess – I do the muggle equivalent of the Order, then."

            Somehow, her mentioning the Order caught Remus's attention. He slowly turned to look at her, eyes tired. "No." he said. "It's not your fault. I'm just shocked, I suppose. I mean – I've known you for almost two months, and you've been-" he struggled for the right words, but failed. "I just didn't see you as a  - well – a soldier?" He wasn't sure exactly what Sarah did, and for this, Sarah was grateful.

            'Remus,' she thought. 'there's still so much you don't know about me…'

            "I'm not a soldier." Sarah said. "I work with an …agency." Remus raised an eyebrow, but remained silent. "I can't tell you much else," she looked apologetic. "but it's a bit like the order, except we have no single 'bad guy'. We deal with problems as they arise."

            "In this case," Remus ventured. "That problem would be this Nolan person, right?" Sarah's hopes began to climb; Remus actually sounded interested.

            "Yes – and no. He was part of it." Sarah stood up abruptly – she didn't want to go into much more detail. 'Gods – how could I have let him come with me?' she berated herself. 'I should have stopped him, told him to stay in the store.'

            Remus took one look at Sarah's despairing face and his heart melted. He had been upset at first. She knew all about the Order, and had a fairly good idea of what he'd done for it. But she hadn't told him what she did, and that had made him feel… untrustworthy. Now, thought, it almost seemed like she had wanted to tell him. She was clearly genuinely upset that he'd been hurt.

            "It's not your fault, Sarah" he reassured her, touching her arm gently. "Look, I'm fine. By tomorrow night I'll be just – peachy."

            His use of one of Sarah's favourite expression elicited the response he'd wanted; a smile. "Look," Remus tried again. "Yes, I had hoped that you and I were close enough now that you'd have told me." He didn't feel a need to add that it was only fair since she knew about what he did for the Order. It hung in the air between them anyway.

            "And we all have our secrets. Just, not with good friends – and – we are, right?" he looked somewhat nervously at her. Sarah smiled back weakly.

            "Yeah." 'Remus – you have no idea what else I'm keeping from you'

            Remus paused, momentarily confused by the slight hesitation, and then continued. "So, it's okay, alright? Mind you, I'm definitely one to talk about keeping things from friends. I never actually told James, Sirius and Peter that I was a werewolf. I only admitted it after they'd figured it out themselves!"

            Sarah turned away again, her posture stiffening. "With the way a lot of wizards treat werewolves, I'm not surprised. Anyone would have done what you did. I – what I do – you saw me today, Remus! I killed people!"

            "And if you hadn't?" Remus asked, not expecting an answer. Sarah remained silent. "You'd be dead. And for that matter – so would I. So, thanks are in order, Sarah. If you hadn't called out to me when you did-"

            "YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN THERE!" Sarah suddenly yelled at him. Remus gaped. He'd seen her annoyed before, but never this furious. Her eyes were blazing, her fists clenched and the air around her crackled with energy. He could have sworn that sparks were shooting out the ends of her hair as she seemingly towered over him, despite her five-foot four-inch height. 

            "You don't understand." She ground out between clenched teeth. "So we got lucky. You are fairly decent at defending yourself and I happened to see what was going on at the right time. But supposed you couldn't defend yourself?!? Suppose I hadn't looked up at that moment??? You'd be DEAD and it would be MY FAULT!!!!"

            White-hot fury burnt through Sarah, partially at Remus, but mostly at herself. If only she'd swallowed her pride and let him know what her job entailed earlier, then he wouldn't have been there. Sure, he'd only been shot, but what about next time? Hell, she was going to make sure that there never was a next time. She'd tell everyone to stay as far away as possible from her the instant she felt something out of place. Heck, she should just stay away from them – they were already dealing with a crazy psycho hell bent on world domination; why burden them with any more problems? Suddenly, she found herself literally jolted out of her thoughts as Remus shook her hard.

            "Sarah." He said, quiet but deadly. "Don't you think that I don't understand. I'm a werewolf. A WEREWOLF! Do you know what that means? Once, I almost…I almost…" He closed his eyes at the memory of what had happened in his fifth year at Hogwarts, unable to say it out loud. "What I mean, Sarah, is that things happen, and once they do, we move on. If it was our fault – IF, Sarah-" he saw her head sink and place a hand underneath her chin, lifting it so she looked at him. "-IF it is, Sarah, we move on and learn from our mistakes. If it isn't – well, then we still move on and we DON'T blame ourselves for something we had no control over. Look at me, Sarah." He said. Her eyes had dropped from his and were looking frantically anywhere but him.

            "Sarah." He said again, but with a hint of steel in his voice. Sarah looked up into Remus's eyes. He was right, she knew that, but she should have told him. She should have! 

            'And yet,' and inner voice seemed to say. 'you still aren't telling him something, are you?'

            "Learn from our past mistakes" she said, dully. Remus arched an eyebrow. This was not the response that he had been expecting. "Learn, meaning not making them again." Remus nodded, unsure of what was happening. "Well then, Remus," she said, taking in a deep breath for what she was about to do next.

            _There's just one more thing that you don't know about me, then_.

            Remus looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?" Sarah looked seriously at him, patiently waiting for him to figure out what had just happened.

            When he did, his reaction was immediate. He jumped back, pulling his hand away from her abruptly as if she had burnt him. His face was pale and him mouth opened and closed a few times before he was capable of normal speech again.

            "W-Wh-What??!! I thought we'd gone through this, Sarah, you're a muggle!!" Now Remus's voice shook as her stared at her, wide-eyed. Sarah winced as he took another step back from her.

            "Yes." Sarah said, trying to make him comfortable. Remus sank into an armchair behind him, a look of obvious relief on his face. Maybe he'd just imagined the whole thing. There was no way that Sarah, a muggle for goodness' sakes, could be a… he couldn't even bring himself to think it.

            _But,_ Sarah continued, the blood leaving Remus's face once more. _Muggle or not, I am a telepath._

A/N ooooh!!! So there you have it! but guess what? There are more revelations to come. Whoever else guesses what it is gets a gold star. And whoever finds the reference to Sarah's telepathy in the first chapter gets a character named after them! (or whatever name you come up with) Here's a hint: read it through out loud slowly and it'll jump out at you. Oh – and Harry will be making an appearance in a couple of chapters – should he have a romance going of his own? If so, with who?

So please please please please review (besides, if you review mine, I'll review yours!) Yes, I know, I have no shame, but reviews are all that let me know if you all like this or not!  - Laren


	5. What are you, an Angel?

Disclaimer: I own nada, blah blah blah, but Sarah, Nolan, Michael, the plot and whomever else I introduce are mine

A/N: Okay people. I have fought this tooth and nail, denied it fervently, but with this chapter, I am forced to admit that Sarah is * drum roll* at the very least… part… Mary-Sue! (Oh the pain) I really didn't want her to be, but when it comes down to it * wipes away a tear* oh well, I'm going to try and make her as realistic as possible, but she seems especially Mary-Sueish at points in this chapter. But have no fear! She'll get better from here on so don't stop reading!

Congrats to Cassandra, who got the telepathy hint in chapter 1!! Cassandra, do you want the character named directly after you or a name of your choice?

Chapter 5:  What are you, an angel?

            "Hello Remus, Sarah!" came the ever cheerful voice of Albus Dumbledore. "It's a lovely evening – you two should go out for a walk!"

            The sight that greeted his eyes, however, made him stop dead in his tracks. Remus was sitting weakly in a high backed armchair, his face pale and drawn. Sarah was standing facing him, her breath faster than it should have been, looking sad, nervous and defeated all at the same time. Her normally immaculate clothing was messy, her hair tangled, and it looked like she'd been crying. Remus's clothes were similarly tussled, and one arm, Dumbledore noted with great alarm, was bloody. On the floor beside him were bloodied bandages as well as the remnants of a potion.

            Tearing his eyes away from the bandages, he looked up to Sarah, whose eyes told him all he needed to know. Remus had found out – and only just, by the looks of it. "Remus, Sarah." He said, much more gently this time. "I'll leave you two to talk, then. Remus – are you going to be alright?"

            Remus nodded absently. "Yes, professor." He said, so quietly that Dumbledore had to strain to hear him.

            "Well then, if you'll excuse me." He nodded to the two of them.

            _Sarah,_ he called out his goddaughter, hoping that she was reading him. _Sarah, tell him everything, now. Too many people have either betrayed his trust or not trusted him in the past. He needs to know._

            Sarah didn't respond, but pulled up a chair beside Remus in an unspoken acknowledgement of her godfather. Dumbledore stepped back and disapparated, praying fervently that they would talk and come to an understanding.

            For a few minutes, neither moved. After a while, however, Sarah sat down in the chair she'd pulled up. Remus sighed and turned towards her. The few seconds in which Dumbledore had been with them had allowed him to regroup. He gave Sarah a small smile.

            "So, you're a telepath and you can seriously fight. Anything else I should know about, or should I assume that you're some kind of angel/goddess in disguise come to 'guide' me with your 'infinite' wisdom and knowledge?" he said dryly (A/N: I couldn't resist – she seems like such a Mary Sue here!) Sarah's eyes lit up.

            "Hey!" she said, then immediately sobered. "Uh, well, I suppose there's one… and a half more things that you should know about me."

            Remus arched an eyebrow. _Merlin, Sarah,_ he thought. _What else can there be?_

            "Oh, plenty else." Sarah responded , without thinking. She clapped a hand over her mouth at Remus's startled expression.

            "Sorry, Remus!" she said. "I did that without meaning to; when people think like that, as if they're talking to me, it's hard not to hear them. I don't just go around always reading people's minds. In fact, I prefer not to – it takes all the mystery out of life."

            Remus, however, didn't hear much of her apology – he was too deep in thought. "Sarah," he said slowly. "When we first met – when you said that you used to annoy Albus at staff meetings…"

            Sarah nodded, then groaned. "Oh," she said. "I did it then, didn't I?"

            "I imagined you annoying Albus, and then you said, as if you'd heard me plain as day, that you did it to McGonagall…" Remus lapsed back into amazed thought. And there'd been that time when Albus had come for dinner. The house had been in complete silence when Sarah had entered, yet she'd known that her godfather was there before she even came into the room. Suddenly a new train of thought presented itself to him.

            "You've been pretty careless around me, haven't you?" he half accused her. Sarah smiled sheepishly. "You hoped that I'd figure it out."

            "Well," Sarah fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. "It's not the easiest thing in the world to tell people. Most usually look at me weird – and then never look me in the eye again, as if I can't read their minds if I can't make eye contact." Sarah snorted, and Remus was mildly alarmed. He had had the feeling, especially when thinking about the Dumbledore incident, that Sarah had no need to be anywhere near whoever's mind she was reading. Her reaction to people's belief in mind reading through eye contact only served to confirm that suspicion.

            "My telepathy – its nothing like that, really." She sighed, then continued. "The other half is that I'm also – well, a bit telekinetic as a side effect. I guess I…sense… goodness this sounds so ridiculous out loud… well, I sense energy differently from everyone else."

            "One and a half" Remus mused.

            "What?" Sarah asked, somewhat taken aback by his lack of reaction to her latest revelation.

            "You told me the half, now what about the one more thing?"

            _Well,_ Remus thought. _might as well hear it all out in one go._

            If Sarah had heard, she gave no indication of it. "Oh – well – you've seen me do this one, too." She took a deep breath. This particular trait tended to either seriously disturb people or get them way too overexcited. "You know in the store when I blanked out?" She continued after seeing the affirmative nod he gave her. "When something bad or dangerous is going to happen, I can generally sense it. Yeah I know, it's the weird energy thing again. I can feel that things are going to go wrong at least five minutes before it happens."

            Remus frowned. "Sense??" he said. "Or see? Today it looked like you actually saw something."

            "The greater the danger, the clearer the 'premonition'." Sarah said, getting up. Now that Remus knew essentially everything, she suddenly remembered that she had to go into work the next morning and deliver a full report.

            "Damn!" she said, punching a conveniently placed chair. Remus looked up, rather concerned. The last time she'd said that, they'd had to vault a stair rail and run for their lives.

            "What?" he said, getting up as well. "You're not… sensing anything, are you?"

            "No, no." Sarah sighed. "I'm going to be in a lot of trouble tomorrow." She added under her breath, but Remus's keen wolf senses caught it.

            "What do you mean, trouble?" 

            Sarah brushed it off. "Hey, look, we should get some sleep. We can talk about this tomorrow, seeing as you already know the important stuff. Night, Remus." She said, touching his arm gently and turning to leave. Remus, however, reached out and grabbed her hand with his good arm.

            "Sarah," he growled out. "I thought we were good friends, meaning that we were being honest with each other."

            Sarah looked up into his light blue eyes and sighed. _you'd think that he was the telepathic one,_ she mused.

            "I'm sorry" she said, attempting to run her hand through her messy hair, but finding her path blocked by numerous tangles. "I guess I'm just blaming myself again."

            Remus stared at her for a few seconds, then decided to let it go. He gently squeezed the hand he was holding; Sarah looked upset and tired. She was right – telling someone that you were telepathic was not something that you did everyday. "Night, Sarah." He said gently. On impulse, he bent forward and made to kiss her on the cheek. Sarah, however, turned her head at the last moment, and so instead his lips brushed softly against hers.

            Before he knew it, he'd dropped her hand and slid his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him while she deepened the kiss. Suddenly his brain kicked back into gear and his body regretfully obeyed, pulling away from her. Sarah looked up at him, her eyes wide and lips slightly parted.

            "Sarah…" he began, but she darted away from him, obviously rather flustered.

            "Uh, goodnight, Remus." She said quickly, making to leave the room. Remus raised his hands to his lips – what on earth had possessed him to kiss her? Sure, he hadn't meant to kiss her on the lips, but he certainly hadn't protested when it happened.

            _Well,_ said a smug inner voice that seemed to come out of nowhere.  _there is that itsy bitsy fact that you really, really, really like this girl. You couldn't even stay mad at her for a couple of seconds!_

            Sarah was almost at the doorway when she heard him and she stopped instantly, her whole body stiffening. She turned around slowly and stared at Remus for a few seconds. Remus was quite confused until he realized that she'd heard him. In no time at all, he felt his face burn as he was transformed into 'Remus the Red' as Sirius had so lovingly christened him all those years ago. A mischievous look came upon Sarah's face as she turned away again and walked out of the room,  a small smile playing on her lips.

            _Good going, Remus!_ he chastised himself as he made to clear up the mess on the floor. _Why don't you just walk around with a sign saying 'I have a crush on Sarah Brenton'?_

            He stopped dead. "Hang on," he said to himself. "Who said that I had a 'crush' on her! I'm a grown man, for goodness sakes!"

            _Well now,_ came the smug voice. _I do believe, Remus, that you did._

            *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          

            "Brenton." 

            Sarah winced. She knew that she was in a lot of trouble when Michael used her last name. The disappointment in his voice was impossible to ignore.

            "As usual, Sarah, you got out of a crowded area, made sure that the primary target stayed alive, and did this all without destroying any property. But do you care to explain WHY ON EARTH THERE WAS A CIVILIAN WITH YOU????????"

            "He's a wizard." Sarah said very quietly, but Michael heard. 

            "DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE WHETHER OR NOT THE MAN IS GOD'S GIFT TO EARTH??? NO!!!!"

            Michael stormed over to the window, refusing to look at Sarah. He knew that would only make him angrier, and he really wanted to calm down. She was the one person that he could always count on, and she'd never been this careless before. Despite that, everyone had to mess up sometime, he thought. 

            "Sarah." He groaned. "Why couldn't you have saved the perfection for now and messed up when you first started out?"

            Sarah relaxed considerably. Now that Michael had let some steam out, she was sure that he wouldn't be too hard on her. 

            "I know I messed up sir; in fact, I know that I'm extremely fortunate that Remus is alive and that he didn't use any magic." In hindsight, that wasn't the best thing to say.

            "AND THAT'S ANOTHER THING!!! YOU COULD HAVE EXPOSED HIS WORLD TO THE WRONG KIND OF PEOPLE!!!"

            Michael's eyes were boring into hers but she stood her ground. She knew that he'd always held her in high respect due to the fact that she, unlike so many others at MI5, was unafraid of her boss. However, his next statement caught her completely off guard.

            "You like him."

            "What? I mean – sir – how – of course I …" she sputtered, completely at loss for words. Michael smirked at her obvious discomfort.

            "Yes, you like him." He said. Sarah remained speechless. "Look, Sarah, I know you've always done your best here. Just don't let the fact that you like this man get in the way of your work, okay?"

            Sarah nodded, unable to think of anything to say. She certainly liked his kiss – and she was so crushed when she thought he was upset with her  - did that mean she liked him? 

            "Other than that, Nolan has given us some good information." Michael continued. "Keep working hard, Miss Brenton."

            Sarah turned and left the room, breathing a huge sigh of relief as the door closed behind her. "Finally – I can go home." She thought, making her way out of the offices and back to Remus.

            *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          

            "G'morning, Sarah." Remus greeted her. He'd been asleep when she left and decided to make breakfast for when she got back.

            "Hi yourself." She grinned at him. "How's the arm?"

            'I will not think about liking Remus, I will not think about liking Remus' she told herself.

            "Almost completely healed. Do you want some toast?" he asked her.

'I will not think about kissing Sarah. I will not think about kissing Sarah.' He sternly admonished himself.

"Sure!" she said, sounding a little too enthusiastic. "Who's the letter from?" she said, pointing her hand at a piece of parchment lying on the kitchen table.

"Oh, your darling 'grandpa'" he joked with her. "Actually, there seems to be a bit of a situation at Hogwarts, and Dumbledore feels that Harry would be safer with us for a while."

"Aww – Harry's not going to like that." Sarah said. As excited as she was to finally meet Harry – Remus talked non-stop about him if she got him onto that topic – she'd learnt enough to gather that Harry wasn't happy being shuttled from place to place, usually without any choice in the matter whatsoever. And now even more so as he'd have to stay inside all the time…

"Wait a minute." Sarah said. Remus stopped the plate that he was levitating towards her in mid air and she rolled her eyes at him. "If he's coming here to keep him safe – doesn't that defeat the purpose if whoever is out to get him knows that he's not a Hogwarts?"

"Polyjuice." Remus said, settling the plate in front of Sarah, who smiled gratefully at him.

"Sorry, I don't speak wizard." Sarah reminded Remus, and he gave a small chuckle.

"Someone will take the Polyjuice potion and pretend to be Harry for a while." Remus said, by way of an explanation.

"Rmmpft" Sarah said, her mouth full. Remus grinned at her as she rather embarrassedly swallowed her toast. "Excuse me" she said, face flushed.

"So," she asked, making sure she'd finished chewing this time. "When is he coming?" 

"Two days time, Albus says."

'Two days in which to get rid of any silly 'feelings' I have' Remus thought. 'And then Harry will be here.'

Sarah finished her toast and got up, making her way towards the sink.

"No, no, let me do it – you made me breakfast." She said at Remus's protest. 

"Well then," Remus said, going towards the door. "I'll be upstairs getting Harry's room ready."

Sarah laughed as he left the kitchen. He had two whole days to 'get Harry's room ready' and it was already ready from the summer. It was good to see him excited, she thought. He looked so good when he was happy.

'He looked so good????' she questioned herself. 'Where did that come from?'

She shook her head and continued washing dishes. 'I must not like Remus.' She chanted. 'I must not like Remus.'

A/N: I personally love this chapter – it's my favourite so far! What do you think?? Also, I asked last time but no one had any ideas. Harry will be making an appearance in the next chapter – will he have a relationship going of his own? And with who??? Review and let me know, people! I love it when you all review (and yes, Anti-Sheep Cheese Muffin, Remus IS A GOD!!!! I agree entirely!!!!! If there were one thing I could own in Harry Potter it'd be him…) So review! The more you review, the more inspired I am (how cheesy does that sound) to put up another chapter!

Does anyone know how to get italics???? If so, let me know!!!! Please?? (it makes writing their thoughts so much easier for me and easier for you to read! OH!! This is a repost – I just figured out italics!! YES!!!!


	6. Harry, meet Sarah

Disclaimer: I own – well – let's be honest here. Sarah's mine, Michael's mine, Nolan is mine, Cassandra who has yet to make an appearance is mine, and so is the plot (I think. I thoroughly apologize if someone else has done it before) in short – anything you don't recognize from the books is MINE!!! Yep, that's about it! Anything else is J.K R's.

A/N: Thanks to those of you who reviewed – but two pressing questions were not answered!!! Will Harry have a romance of his own? AND HOW DO YOU GET ITALICS???? Please please please tell me!! Anyhoo, but thanks for responding guys. It always makes me want to post another chapter there and then. Trust me, you can ask anyone who knows me – I get waaay too excited when someone reviews!

On with the Story!!!!!

Chapter 6: Harry, meet Sarah (original, hunh?)

            Harry scowled at the curtains hiding Mrs. Black's portrait. No.12 Grimmauld Place was the last place in the world he wanted to be. "But," he grudgingly admitted to himself. "It's probably the safest." With Voldemort's latest plan to somehow get Harry at Hogwarts – Harry didn't know the exact details; the still never told him everything – he had been whisked away to the old Black house and Charlie Weasley was impersonating him at Hogwarts.

            "Don't worry, Harry," the young man had said, looking a bit too excited for Harry's liking. "No one will suspect a thing!!" Charlie looked ecstatic, actually. "And I'll do just fine in quidditch – they'll never know the difference!" Harry ground his teeth at the thought of the quidditch game he was going to miss. Or two games, for that matter. God only knew how long Dumbledore was going to keep him locked away…

            "Harry – is that you???" he heard the voice of his former professor just before he was suddenly engulfed into a bone crushing hug worthy of Mrs. Weasley. After a few moments, Remus pulled back.

            "Merlin, look at you!" Harry was confused for a second as Remus held him at arms length, then pulled him back into what Harry was coming to think of as the 'jaws of death'. Then he remembered, somewhere in the oxygen deprived haze of his mind, that Remus had been gone when he'd finally returned to Grimmauld Place that summer. Not that he could blame him. All the memories it held – Harry would have picked the Dursleys any day.

            Just as he thought that he was going to black out from lack of air, a laughing female voice interrupted them. "Remus, are you out to kill him? Give him some air, I'm sure he'll know you're happy to see him without being suffocated to death."

            Remus let go of Harry and grinned sheepishly at him. Suddenly Harry felt a lot better – and not just because of his renewed air supply. It was clear to see that Remus was happy to see him, and Harry had missed him. Remus was his only link to his family left…shaking his head of unpleasant thoughts, he grinned back, causing Remus to smile even wider.

            " 'Lo, Professor" He said, taking off his coat. Remus made to take it, but the young woman – a rather good looking young woman, he noted, got to it first.

            "Here, I'll take it." she said, smiling at the two of them. "I'm sure that you two want to catch up. I'll just be in the kitchen…"

            "Cooking?" Remus added, wickedly.

            "Yes, cooking." She said, firmly, glaring at him. Ever since she'd proven her culinary skills, Remus had steadfastly been unavailable to cook dinner.

            "Uh," Harry said, looking between Remus and the girl. "Uh…" he didn't want to be rude, but who on earth was she? Her face was vaguely familiar – he could've sworn he'd seen her somewhere, but…

            "Oh!" Remus smiled. "Forgive me, I seem to have misplaced my manners." The girl rolled her eyes at Harry. "Harry, this is Sarah Brenton, Professor Dumbledore's goddaughter. Sarah, as I'm sure you've gathered by now, this is Harry Potter."

            "Nice to meet you, Harry." Sarah said, shaking his hand. 

            "You too." Harry said, liking her easygoing manner.

            "Well," she said, giving Remus a meaningful glance. "I'll be making that quiche, then. The pastry takes forever. Harry, Remus knows this, but if you even think about interrupting me while I'm making dinner OR sneaking dessert before hand, you do so under extreme pain of death. I am an expert with well aimed kicks!"

            "She is!!" Remus whispered loudly to Harry, earning himself a mock glare from Sarah before she turned and entered the kitchen.

            *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          

            Harry found himself going to bed on an extremely full stomach. Dinner had left him with the firm belief that somehow, Sarah was distantly related to Mrs. Weasley. Now that he thought about it, it made sense. How else would Dumbledore have come to be her godfather? Her family must have been descended from squibs, he thought. She certainly reminded him of the Weasley family – out going, happy, busy… "Nice girl." He decided.

            At that moment, Sarah poked her head through the door. "Hello, Harry" she said brightly. "You decent?"

            Harry blushed furiously, mumbling affirmatively. Sarah promptly entered the room, carrying a load of clothes in her arms. "Okay." She said, setting it all down on his bead and placing her hands on her hips. 'Sarah Weasley' thought Harry. 'Has to be.'

            "Now, I've made sure you have enough bedclothes and whatnot, but there aren't any good towels in this house. I've been using my own, as has Remus…"

            Harry wondered just how she knew which towels Remus used.

            "And so I went out and bought you some nice fluffy ones. Now." She surveyed the room in a manner that Harry considered the epitome of her Mrs. Weasley behaviour. "Remus and I cleaned things up in here, but the old man is going on about safety and all that rot again, so you might be here for a while."

            'Yep,' Harry concluded; her annoyance at Dumbledore's issues with safety was plain to see. 'I like her.'

            "And so you will probably want to have some fun decorating it yourself. I know it sucks…" she sighed. "Having to go somewhere safe and all."

            Sarah wasn't trying to empathize with Harry. 'Safety' had been the all-important theme for the past few years. Ever since she'd found out about her telepathy, and consequently, about the magical world, her godfather had stressed the importance of  'safety' almost daily. Then she'd become - well, _better_ at what she did and so she'd hoped that she could finally get on with her life. She'd been recruited by Michael and enjoyed her job, only to find herself drawn back into the ever-increasing turmoil of the wizarding world. Although now, it wasn't just for her safety…

            "Is that why you're here?" Harry asked, before he could stop himself. Sarah glanced sideways at Harry.

            "Harry." She said, after a few seconds. "How much do you know about me?"

            "Nothing much really – seeing as I just met you today." Harry wondered what she was getting at. "You're professor Dumbledore's goddaughter, you're a muggle, nothing else, I suppose."

            Sarah sighed. "Well," she said slowly. "Uncle Al wants me to help you with your occlumency whilst you're here, so you'll have to know all of it."

            "Teach – teach me occlumency?" Harry said, utterly perplexed. "You're a muggle, right? How would you – I mean…" he was at a complete loss for words.

            "You're probably not going to like this, Harry." Sarah said, avoiding his gaze. 

            "I'm not going to like what?" Harry ground out, not at all happy with the turn the proceedings were taking. Whenever someone said that, it was never followed with good news.

_ This, Harry_.  

            "Whaddya mean, 'This'" Harry's face paled as he looked at Sarah. She hadn't spoken, but he'd heard her, plain as day.

            _ I'm a telepath_. She said, nervously, hoping he wouldn't run out on her.

            _ Merlin._  Harry thought. At no time during his lessons with Snape had he ever felt such a presence in his mind.

            "Oh, I agree." Sarah said, talking again, for which Harry was thoroughly grateful. There was a certain amount of power behind that presence and he had the disconcerting feeling that no matter how hard he worked at occlumency, he would never be able to get around that force.

            "It scared the living daylights out of me when I first found I could do it. I immediately went to Uncle Al – I'd managed to overhear something about magic, and I thought he'd know what to do. But, much to my disappointment, I wasn't a witch."

            'Funny' Sarah thought. 'I can't believe I actually used to want to be caught up in all this. Gods  - Harry has no choice. How is he sane??'

            "And soon afterwards it became evident that I was also telekinetic, with some ability to sense danger prior to the event."

            Harry looked at her, his mind working fast. He'd felt what the petite, harmless looking young woman standing in front of him was capable of moments ago. He didn't need to be a master occlumens to know that what he'd felt was _not_ magic. Or perhaps, not any kind that he was used to…

            "You're not here for your safety, not entirely." He said. He understood. "You're here for ours." 

            They were both silent for a few minutes as Harry digested this information and what it meant. Sarah found her eyes roaming the room. It had been renovated, but was devoid of personal touch. The wall were a bare, clean cream and the curtains were a deep burgundy, matching the bedspreads. Creamy rugs covered the deep brown wood, which had had to be totally sanded down and redone over the summer. As nice as it looked, Sarah much preferred her and Remus's smaller rooms. Especially Remus's, with its books everywhere, scrolls, quills, and just the general feel of Remus. Remus. "Oh…no…oh…well…" she came to a not so unexpected realization. "Oh, I like him."

'Course you do' snorted an inner voice. 'You've flirted with him shamelessly since the day you met. And if that isn't enough, listen to you going on about his room. You know what that means, don't you? Well, I know, because it's subconscious, and I am your subconscious.'

'What!!' Sarah thought, indignant. 'I thought the subconscious was supposed to be – well – that! _Subconscious!_'

'You,' the voice continued as if it hadn't heard a thing. 'You want to be in his room. Spend _quality time_ in his room. And not reading all those books, if you get my - '

Sarah flushed a magnificent red worthy of the world's reddest redhead as her inner voice stopped abruptly. Remus had just entered the room.

"Can I come in?"

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"Can I come in?"

"Sure." Harry said, scooting over on the bed he was currently residing upon in order to make room for Remus.

"Oh, no!" Sarah said, turning about quickly, trying very hard not to look at Remus, and failing miserably. "Here, I was going anyway. Michael called, and I have to go into work."

"Work?" Harry looked up at her. "You have to go into work now? What do you do?"

It was worth a try, he thought. So far he'd learnt a lot of interesting things about her – she seemed to be a bit more open than most of the adults around him.

"Oh, nothing much." Sarah breezed by him, picking up some of the laundry she'd dropped on his bed earlier. "I'm an MI5 agent, that's all"

'So much for openness' Harry thought. There was no way she was that.

"I'll be back late, Remus, if I'm back at all, so don't wait up for me." Sarah secretly hoped that he would, despite what she had just said. "And don't you two stay up all night talking." She shook her finger at them, then, on impulse, bet and kissed Remus on the cheek before gathering up everything she was taking with her and departing.

"Night, Remus, Night, Harry." She said, closing the door behind her.

Harry immediately turned to Remus with a sly look on his face. "So…" he smirked. "You two, here, all _alone_…" he let the implications hang in the air. Remus blushed and playfully punched Harry in the arm.

"So what if I like her a bit? She's a pretty girl – you can't fault me." He tried to explain, but Harry laughed.

"No – I was just teasing you, I think she's a nice girl, really. Lucky you, actually. You get to be with your girlfriend whenever you want." He looked momentarily downcast, which did not go unnoticed by Remus, but the former chose to ignore it for the time being.

"She's not my girlfriend, Harry – I mean – I  - ugh!" He turned away, the abruptly turned back. "You should get some sleep; just because you're not at Hogwarts doesn't mean that you won't be studying – and you forget that you have several good teachers in the Order who will be here frequently."

Harry groaned, but obeyed, and got ready for bed. Remus bid him goodnight and left, leaving Harry to wonder about just what was going on between Sarah Brenton and Remus Lupin.

A/N: There it is, people! So, then, maybe Harry does have a girlfriend back at good ol' Hogwarts! But if he does, who could it be, that no one can know about it?? Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Review and let me know!

Here's a preview from Chapter 7: 

'"Oh Merlin, NO!" Remus thought. 'Not that – he's only sixteen – she's twenty-two… they couldn't have! They wouldn't have – but my bed!!! How could he?? HOW COULD SHE!!!!"'

MWAHAHAHA…….. - Laren


	7. An Apparent Lack of Clothing

Disclaimer: I am merely playing around with the products of the goddess of Imagination, J.K.Rowling, so, please don't sue me. (But anything you don't recognize belongs to me!!!)

A/N:  I had sooo much fun writing this chapter, I really hope that you all have fun reading it. Also, Harry's romance (or non romance) will be coming to light in this chapter – Cassandra, your character may just come into play here. Hint hint: She may be a certain SOMEONE's girlfriend – or not. You'll just have to read it to find out, soo…

On with the story!

Chapter 7: An Apparent Lack of Clothing

            "REMUS!!!!" Sarah frantically grabbed onto the front of Remus's robes.

            "Why. Can't. I. Find. The. Plates?????" She ground out, her eyes darting around his bedroom in search of 'The Plates'.

            "Plates?" Remus innocently enquired, knowing full well what she meant.

            "For my grandmother!!!!" Sarah hissed, tugging urgently at his clothing. She had been all over the house looking desperately for the plates she was taking for her grandmother, but for some reason, they refused to appear. Remus's room had been the last place she'd looked – but still – no plates.

            "Ah, see, about that" Remus began, a wicked glint in his eyes. "I don't think that you actually bought them. You know, what with the _minor_ distraction we had and…" he trailed off, as Sarah was looking rather menacingly at him.

            "Of course," he said, gently prying her hands from his robes and stepping back. "I could always apparate back to the store and see if they have anything similar left." In the back of his mind he could hear Sirius's voice, laughing. "Moony, look at you. You're not even dating the girl and yet you're already whipped!"

            Sarah smiled sweetly – a little too sweetly for Remus's liking, and then impatiently said. "Well?!? I have to catch a flight in AN HOUR and I should have been at the airport AGES ago but nooooo, Remus says, 'Just one omelette, _Peaches_, don't you want just one omelette. Goodness knows what they give you on those muggle flights'. Well you know what?!?" Remus cringed. At the time, making up the impromptu silly nickname had seemed like a good idea, but now it was coming back to haunt him. "I don't want any more omelettes, PEACHES!!" She waved her clenched fist in his face, obviously about to continue, but Remus snatched the money she held in it and promptly disapparated before she could get another word in.

            "Whipped, whipped, whipped." He heard Sirius's voice singing. He shook his head, frustrated. "I'm going crazy." He said to himself. "Sirius's death has pushed me over the edge. First I fall for some muggle girl, now I'm hearing his voice in my head. Absolutely nutters."

            He shook his head again, walking into the large department store. "All right. I need to make this as quick as possible." He marched determinedly towards the staircase. Sarah would be none too happy if she missed her flight that day.

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            "Ugh!! Men!!" Sarah fell back onto Remus's neatly made bed, thoroughly messing it in the process. "UGH!!!" she pulled the covers up to herself, finding some small satisfaction in momentarily forgetting that she was an adult.

            Harry, passing by, heard Sarah's grumpy exclamation and popped his head in the doorway. 

            "Hi, Sarah, you alright…" The words drifted away as he stopped dead. Sarah was sitting on Remus's bed. Her hair was disheveled, her face slightly red and she was _in Remus's bed_, holding the covers tightly to her. All he could see was skin – her long legs and smooth arms coming out from underneath the sheets.

            His eyes bulged as she began to talk. "Harry, promise me you'll never be like that."

            Harry barely managed to squeak out a response. "Like?"

            "Like that!! See how he just left me here?? Ran off right afterwards? He didn't even want to talk!!!"

            'DANGER!!!!' Harry's mind screamed at him. He desperately wanted to run for the door, but his feet seemed to have grown rooted to the ground.

            "Doesn't matter to him if I just needed to cool down a bit – take it easy for a bit before getting into anything too intense again." Sarah continued, oblivious to Harry's plight.

            Harry gulped. 'I knew he liked her!!!' He thought wildly. 'But – I mean – wouldn't I have heard something if they – OH NO!! Don't go there! Professor Lupin!! NO!!!!'

            "Ugh!" Sarah exclaimed again, utterly and totally unaware of the extreme distress that Harry was in. She seemed to calm down after a few minutes, remembering that she was indeed an adult and that frustrated as she was, it was ultimately her fault. "Oh well." She sighed, pushing aside the covers to get out of the bed.

            Harry was now more desperate than he had been in a long time. He was alone with Sarah in the house and she was in front of him, on his ex-professor and dad's best friend's bed – naked!! Not only that, but she had just.. well.. done… THAT with him and she was about to get up! NAKED!!

            "No!" he managed to choke out. But it was too late. She'd already swung her legs over the side of the bed. He instantly shifted his gaze to the floor; that one flash of smooth skin had been too much for him. Slowly, he began to back out of the room.

            "No?" Sarah asked, curious as to why Harry was looking anywhere but her. "Harry, are you alright? Harry, look at me!"

            Terrified, Harry slowly lifted his eyes, taking as long as he possibly could. 'Remus is going to kill me,' he thought. 'he'll use me as food next time he transforms. I  might as well kill myself now, really. Save him all the trouble.'

            "Is something wrong with what I'm wearing? I know it's a bit chilly for England this time of year, but I'm going to the Dominican, so…" She trailed off, thoroughly confused. Remus had warned her that Harry could be a bit strange sometimes, and she'd experienced as much in their occlumency lessons. This, however, was a bit much.

            Harry finally looked up and saw Sarah fully for the first time. She stood directly in front of him, looking puzzled and concerned all at the same time. Her hands were smoothing down the front of her light khaki miniskirt, which she'd paired with a strapless red top.

            "What?" Harry spluttered, suddenly the more confused of the two. Sarah opened her mouth to reply when a soft 'pop' announced Remus's return. 

            "Here you go, Sarah." He said, handing her a box labeled "Royal Doulton Fine Bone China" She smiled gratefully at him and placed it inside a suitcase that Harry hadn't noticed before. She closed it, but not before taking out a matching khaki jacket and putting it on.

            "Okay, then." She said. Remus rolled his eyes. Sure, now she was in a good mood. 

            "All ready to go?" He asked her. 

            "Just a sec." Sarah said. She walked over to Harry, while fixing her messy hair. Enveloping him in a hug, she said, "See you some time soon, Harry. Have fun at Hogwarts if you get to go back before I see you again."

            She pulled back, smiling, and Harry managed a shaky "Yeah", while not trying to blush too hard. "Have lots of fun – take plenty of pictures and send them to me. And say bonjour to your grandma for me."

            "Hola, you mean!!" Sarah said, laughingly. "We're Spanish!" And with that, she took hold of Remus's arm and they both disappeared.

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            A short time later, Remus reappeared. He looked at the room critically. "What happened here? Hurricane Sarah?"

            Harry stammered. Remus arched an eyebrow and leveled his gaze at him. "Harry," he said, in his best concerned professor voice. "I saw how you didn't really hug Sarah back. Did something happen?"

Harry went very, very red. 'Oh Merlin, NO!' Remus thought. 'Not that – he's only sixteen – she's twenty-two… they couldn't have! They wouldn't have – but my bed!!! How could he?? HOW COULD SHE!!!!' his thoughts became more and more frantic as he waited for Harry's reply.

"I came in…. Sarah.. on you bed…only… sheets on… no clothes…she said….you ran….off, no talking to her…"

Harry hadn't managed to form a coherent sentence, but after a few seconds, the few words that he had said had sunk into Remus's mind and he laughed. It was slightly embarrassing, but that did not stop the laughter from pouring out until tears threatened to come.

Harry was at first shocked by Remus's laughter, then found himself rather hurt. Remus, upon seeing the expression on Harry's face, calmed down and began to apologize. "Oh, Harry, I'm not laughing at you, it's just that I thought that…" he stopped, thinking better of what he'd been about to say. "No, Sarah and I aren't together – I told you that three weeks ago."

Harry grinned wickedly. Having recovered from his embarrassment, he knew that he was on much firmer ground here. "No?" he said, his eye glinting. "Could've fooled me. I mean, you obviously like her-"

He was immediately cut off by Remus's indignant "I do NOT!"

"Okay," Harry conceded, causing Remus to breathe a sigh of relief. He knew full well that his feelings for her were well beyond platonic. The two days after he'd found out about her job had done nothing to ease his mind about her; if anything, he'd wanted to be around her more and more. It was going to be a long three weeks without Sarah, he thought. Suddenly, Harry's voice jerked him back to reality.

"Of course you don't like her. You love her."

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" Remus roared at the teenager, who was currently doubled over with laughter. "Not funny, Harry. Here, since you know so much – help me tidy up, mister." He threw one side of the bedcovers to Harry, who caught them and proceeded to place them properly on the bed, still breaking into muffled snorts of laughter every few seconds.

"Well?" Harry smirked at Remus. He was not going to be put off of this one. It was plain to see just how much Remus did like Sarah, and he for one thought that Remus deserved some fun.

Remus took a long look at Harry. He looked incredibly like James in that instant, determination written all over his face. 'Great. James never failed to get anything out of me when he looked like that.' He sighed – it was no use denying it.

"All right, Harry." He began. Harry whooped and Remus gave him a look. "Maybe I do – well, enjoy her company a lot."

He was surprised to hear a loud snort come from Harry. "_Enjoy her company???_ You've got a wolf – _a wolf_ – inside of you and you're going to tell me that all Sarah – who is extremely pretty, you'd have to be blind not to notice – that all she is to you is _good company_????"

Remus's head shot up. What happened to innocent little Harry who had been so very flustered a minute ago. 'I wonder if Harry fancies a girl at school? I know there was that one girl he liked last year… what was her name again? So? Ho?' he mused. Instead, though, he told Harry the truth.

"Sarah's amazing, nice, intelligent, young, beautiful, and _young_ – there's no way that she returns my feelings, Harry."

Harry looked shocked for a second, and then began to protest that Remus was NOT old at all, when Remus, who was beginning to be rather embarrassed, abruptly changed things towards him.

"The other night, Harry, when you first got here…"

"That was three weeks ago," Harry mused aloud. "I wonder how much longer I'll have to be here for."

Remus smiled gently and continued. "You said something about me getting to be with Sarah…"

"Aha!" Harry crowed, triumphant. "You are together!"

Remus had to fight back the urge to laugh. Harry was too much like James for his own good, sometimes. Just now he was sporting a classic goofy grin, the same one that crossed James's features so very often. The gleam in his eyes was identical to his father's, despite the fact that it was Lily's green gaze twinkling back at him.

"No, we're not!" he repeated, for what felt like the thousandth time. He sighed – Harry would probably never let that go unless he was seeing Sarah. "But it certainly sounded like you want to be with someone." 

The smile instantly faded from Harry's face, quickly replace by the dull, downcast expression that had been so commonplace over the summer. There were a few moments of silence, broken only when Harry got up and went to stand by Remus's small, overstuffed bookcase.

"Well, that won't happen, will it?" He slammed his hand down onto the bookcase. It shook dangerously, causing some scrolls to fall off of the top. "It's a little too dangerous to get close to me nowadays, isn't it??"

"Harry-" Remus began, but it was no use.

"Don't 'Harry' me, all concerned. I mean, come one, everyone around here is so bloody full of B.S. most of the time and if you were going to tell me that 'it's not you, Harry, it's Voldemort' and 'don't ever blame yourself, Harry, your parents wouldn't have wanted that'"

Remus winced. That had been exactly what he was going to say.

"Well look!! I appreciate that you all care for me." Harry seemed to be trying to calm down. He paused, took in a deep breath, and prayed he wouldn't lose control leading to a repeat of the scene in Dumbledore's office at the end of last year. He unclenched his fists, which he had balled up in anger frustration, and continued. "You – I would be absolutely insane if it wasn't for a lot of people, you included. I honestly just don't want anyone else close to me to get hurt. And since I can't change the fact that for some unknown reason you all are sticking by me-"

Harry's voice was now shaking slightly, and Remus made to protest that Harry was indeed, very, very, much worth his time. He closed his mouth, however, after a look from Harry.

"I don't want to let anyone else get too close to me. And I wish people wouldn't stop skirting about what it means to be around me – how dangerous it is."

He sat down beside Remus, utterly spent. Remus looked at Harry's now dull green eyes and was reminded eerily of what he'd once said to James and Sirius one night long ago. They had been demanding as to why on earth he never did ask out the really nice Ravenclaw girl who he'd obviously had a crush on for the greater part of 7th year. Finally, he had snapped.

"She'd  - she'd just end up getting hurt, okay?" he told them, eyes flashing. "Hurt either because she'll be upset when she finds out what I am, or hurt because…" the 18 year old Remus couldn't bring himself to say that as a werewolf he was too much of a danger to her, that he couldn't possibly let anyone else into the walls he'd built around himself.

"Dangerous…" he said now, a hollow laugh escaping him. Harry looked startled, then offended. "Yes," Remus continued. "I know all about being dangerous."

Harry had opened his mouth to respond to Remus's laughter but quickly closed it. There was absolutely nothing he could say to Remus's statement. Somehow, it actually made him feel better. He'd always thought that Sirius was the only one that understood how he felt, but now, he wasn't so sure. Exhaling slightly, he bent and leant his head on Remus's shoulder.

"I'm tired." Harry said, after a while. Remus awkwardly put an arm around Harry's shoulder as the teenager gave a small laugh. "And it's not even midday!"

"Tell you what." Remus said. "Why don't we take today off and listen to the WWN? There's a Puddlemere game on today – against the Tornadoes."

Harry's face slowly broke out into a grin, and Remus felt his heart lighten considerably. "Sure." he said.

Remus stood up and grandly indicated the door. "To the kitchen, then?"

Harry smiled at Remus's grandiose behaviour. He'd obviously got that from Sirius. Sirius. The pain momentarily flared, but it quickly subsided to a dull ache that was almost unnoticeable. 'I can do this.' he told himself, getting up and throwing his shoulders back as he walked out the door. 'I can move on.'

A/N: Wow!! Longest chapter yet!! Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I'd started this one earlier, but I was really inspired to finish it and post when I got reviews. It even got me started on extra chapter that wasn't even meant to be written, which I'll be putting up either today or tomorrow, as well.

Just a side note: If you're into time-travelling Hermione fics, yesterday I read not one but 2 amazing ones! One is on Fictionalley.org, and it's called 'Before the Moon Rises', by Penelope (on Astronomy Tower) and the other is here on ff.net, called 'Lost' by Venus DeMilo. Both extremely similar plots, but believe me – they are amazingly well written. They are definitely worth your time. Be warned – read Lost only if you have plenty of time on your hands!! You won't want to stop halfway through! Oh! I just went on ff.net and Before the Moon Rises is there as well, by Penelope78! Go check it out!

Please pretty please review and let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is much appreciated. Thanks to everyone, especially my beta, Swordsmistress!


	8. Wondering How I Came to be Here

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize, it all belongs to the ever-fabulous JKR. 

A/N: okay, here's that extra chapter I promised. It's a short one, though.

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Chapter 8: Wondering How I Came to be Here…

            Sarah leaned back against the small pillow and sighed. Airplane seats never went back quite far enough for her liking. She opened her eyes, finding that sleep was not coming to her. Glancing down at her tanned arm, she smiled.

            "I'm not even burnt." She said smugly to herself. Her Caribbean heritage came in useful when she spent long amounts of time in the sun. Sarah never needed to worry about coming home from holiday red as a tomato. And it had been such a wonderful holiday. She'd spent half her time at her grandmother's huge bungalow in Bonao, and the other half at a small resort in Puerto Plata. It had felt lovely to just relax for once, to not have to be on her guard and alert at all times. 

            Now she was going back to it all, the turmoil of her own life plus that of the magical world. "Why?" she asked herself, not for the first time. She had been only fourteen when her telepathy had first made an appearance, still concerned with school, her friends, who likes who, and all the other normal teenage woes. She hadn't been exaggerating when she told Harry that it had been a nasty shock. Actually, it had turned out to be more of a prolonged shock, if that were possible, climaxing when she finally realized that what she was hearing were _other people's thoughts_. It was almost unnoticeable at first, like the annoying ring in one's ear during a cold, but it hadn't gone away. Rather, it had progressed into a buzzing noise that intensified in a crowded place. One day, to her absolute horror, she'd discovered that she could hear hundreds of voices, all talking at once, never going away. 

            By that time, she was at a breaking point. She'd gone to a doctor early on during the ringing, but they had done nothing to help her. As it got louder and all the various aspects of her social life began to suffer, her parents took her to more specialists, but no CAT scans, tests, or experiments showed anything wrong with her whatsoever. As it progressed into voices, she found herself being taken to various therapists. Nothing helped her, though. No one seemed to have any answers.

            That is, until she'd gone to visit her godfather one day. Uncle Al was a strange old man, with the weirdest pets and gadgets in his house. Some of the people who came to visit were equally strange, dressed in their long, funny clothes and brightly coloured hats. Her parents had told her that he was the just the eccentric old friend of her equally eccentric old grandfather, that he was completely harmless, but Sarah was never scared of him. She loved going to visit him; besides, he always had such a sweet tooth. And it only intrigued her more that there was such an air of mystery around the house whenever someone came to visit.

            On this particular occasion, as she lay in bed marveling at the extremely realistic rendition of the night sky on her bedroom ceiling, snippets of conversation drifted up to her.

            "But that's impossible, Albus!" Sarah had giggled at his name – she'd found it hilarious ever since she first met him, at three. The earnest voice carried remarkably well up the stairs as it continued. "We're wizards! Surely we can take care of such a small problem! We'd barely use any magic."

            After that, when her godfather had quickly hushed the person, she knew that it was true, and that she was definitely not supposed to have heard it. Quickly pretending to be asleep, she managed to drift off and be deep in her dreams by the time he came up to check on her.

            The next morning, however, she'd gone to him as soon as she left her bed. He'd been ready to obliviate her, when Sarah, nearly in tears, had persuaded him to believe her. 

"Let me do a small experiment, my dear." Dumbledore had said, smiling kindly at her. Suddenly, as she had looked at him, memories of the past few months had flown through her mind, from the incessant ringing, the doctor's visits, and the voices that never left her. His eyes had gone very wide for a second, then he said, rather quietly, "No, I do believe that you need to know a few things, child."

"Can I do magic??" she'd eagerly asked, her face lighting up. Dumbledore smiled gently at her.

"Sorry, my dear, but it appears not. However-" he continued after seeing her face fall. "It seems that you have a gift of your own."

From then on, it had seemed like things were too good to be true. Dumbledore had begun to teach her something called Occlumency, and soon she'd found that she could control her ability, and some others that appeared around the same time. She'd been able to catch up in school – in fact, now she found herself surpassing her classmates in most everything. But when she finished school, 2 years early, she now found that she wanted to get away from the magical world. While it had been appealing at first, she soon discovered that all wasn't well there. They had problems of their own, and she wasn't really a part of them. 

As a result, she was delighted to be recruited by Michael Callahan. It offered a proper excuse to severe her newfound ties to wizarding society. She still kept in touch with her godfather, but he'd respected her decision and let her go as she threw herself into her new life. Sure, things got dangerous there, but it was always something she could handle.

That had all changed, however, when she was 19, finished with the majority of her training and working for Michael and MI5 in earnest. Then she had realized what she'd really got herself into. It still hurt to remember the first time that she had gone out on a mission. Her very first time, and she'd had to bring back the dead body of her partner. She finally saw what some people were capable of, and discovered that she was willing to fight against that, despite the risks to her life.

So when Albus Dumbledore came to her asking for her assistance, telling her just what the situation was in the magical world, she couldn't refuse. Michael had agreed that someone from MI5 should be involved, and so now, she was flying back home to England, Grimmauld Place, and to those she had sworn to help.

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A/N: There you have it, the explain-it-all chapter. Good? Bad? Let me know!

-Laren


	9. Why Not?

Disclaimer: Whatever you don't recognize belongs to J.K. the great, anything else is mine

A/N: Oh my gosh!!! Look at all those reviews!! * blushes * Oh you all make me sooo happy!!! A big thanks goes out to everyone who reviewed, especially Aljinon – I'm glad you all like it! 

On with the Story!!

Chapter 9: Why Not?

            "Remus!" Sarah called as she entered Grimmauld Place.

            The person in question looked up upon hearing his name called. "Hi." He said, emerging from the drawing room with his sleeves rolled up. "Here, let me help you with that." Relieving her of her numerous bags, he smiled at her. "How was your trip? You look like you had fun."

            Sarah, in fact, looked radiant. Her hair cascaded in shiny curls down her back and her cheeks were tinged pink from the cool end of November air. One lock of hair rippled down in front, its golden colour making it stand out from the rest. Despite his best intentions to get over his feelings for her, Remus found himself reaching out and picking it up.

            "You must have been in the sun for ages," he said, feeling its softness. "It even bleached your hair."

            Sarah blushed and laughed a little. "No, this bit has always been like this. I usually try and pin it back, though."

            Remus was puzzled. He would never understand women. One minute they showed off numerous assets, the next they completely hid others. "It's beautiful." He told her. "You shouldn't hide it."

            Sarah tried not to smile to hard, but failed miserably. As good as the trip had been, she'd missed Remus. "I suppose." She said, but left it down instead of pushing it back. Remus picked up her bags again and she followed him up to her room. "Everything was fantastic, as always. Going to see my grandmother is always great. And with the way things are, well, you know." 

            Remus didn't need to be a telepath to know what she had been about to say. She'd be lucky to ever see her grandmother again. Sarah, however, recovered quickly from her small bout of melancholy and continued.

            "It was lovely, soaking up the sun, swimming in the ocean, all the bright colours. And then there was just the sheer peace of being in my grandmother's home – you know, you would like it Remus, at her house." Sarah smiled wistfully at him.

            "Tell you what, Sarah," he joked, but half seriously, depositing her bags in her room before turning to go back downstairs. "Next time, if your grandmother doesn't mind-"

            "Of course not!" Sarah interjected.

            "If she doesn't mind," he continued. "I may take you up on that offer and come along myself. No, don't unpack yet, I made us dinner." 

            Sarah's eyes lit up. "You cooked?? Oh, and here I was thinking that I'd come back to a skin and bones Remus that needed nursing back to health."

            Remus frowned at her. "Why the big surprise? You know I can cook! I'm sure you've had my lasagna before!" He continued as they walked downstairs, not realizing the trap he was walking into. "And if you haven't, I'll make it for you. Starve?! Me?! I was always the only Marauder who could cook!"

            Sarah grinned at him. Sometimes it was just too easy. "Good!" she said, linking her arm through his. "You can cook for us now, then."

            "Of course I can…" Remus began indignantly, then stopped short. _You can cook for us now…_ Sarah's words replayed in his head, and he groaned. "Sarah!!!" he said, exasperated, then followed the laughing girl into the kitchen.

            *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

            After an enjoyable dinner, Remus and Sarah moved back to the drawing room, continuing the light conversation they'd had over their meal. Sarah was in the middle of a sentence when she froze, pointing at a brightly coloured box in a corner of the room. "Is that," she dramatically indicated the box to Remus. "What I think it is?"

            "Depends." Remus shrugged. Molly Weasley had brought it in the other day, saying something about how it needed to be hidden from Arthur. "What do you think it is?" he grinned wickedly as she scowled at him. Undeterred, she ran to pick it up and upon inspection, squealed with delight.

            "It is!!" She practically jumped up and down with excitement. "Oh, and someone's left a note…Oooh!! They spelled it so the selector works on its own!!!!"

            Remus's previously indifferent attitude vanished as curiosity took over.

            "So…" he prompted. Sarah, however, made no response except to ooh and ah over the box at random intervals. His curiosity getting the better of him, he strode over and in one fluid move plucked the box from her grasp. "Twister?" he read out loud, holding it high above his six-foot frame as Sarah attempted to get it back. He surveyed the pictures on the front, then looked back at Sarah, puzzled. "What's so great about it?"

            "Oh – well – it's not – no it is fun." She began, finally getting the box from Remus and opening it. She took out a big plastic sheet with sixteen circles on it, with there being four types of circles; red, yellow, blue, and green. "It's a muggle game." She explained to Remus. " You have to put whatever… 'appendage' the game selects on a certain colour each time. Whoever stays up the longest wins."

            _The things muggles come up with…_ Remus thought. "Sounds simple." He told her.

            "Oh, but it's so much fun." Sarah sighed, sounding wistful. Suddenly she turned to Remus with a predatory gleam in her eye. "Wanna play?"

            Remus began to protest, but he found his pride taking over when Sarah accepted his protests without any disagreement.

            "Of course… I understand how awkward it would be to get beaten at such a silly little muggle game…"

            "That does it." Remus announced. "I'm in."

            *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          

            A few minutes later, a high-pitched voice called out "Left foot, yellow!" and both Sarah and Remus struggled to get over to a yellow spot. Sarah's body was now stretched out gracefully over the sheet, unlike Remus, who looked considerably less elegant sprawled over the colours.

            _Don't call right hand green_. Remus desperately pleaded. _Don't call right hand green._

            "Right hand, Green!" Remus glared at Sarah as she easily lifted her right hand and moved it to a new spot. As he moved his own hand, he wobbled, but managed to successfully get it to where it needed to be. "You must have heard me and made it pick green!!" he growled at Sarah.

            Sarah laughed at him. "Hello? One-hundred percent pure Muggle heritage, right here?" Remus intensified his glare. Sarah had been spot on with her earlier comment. He did _not_, under any circumstances, like to lose. _Oh well…_ he thought. _It can't get any worse from here._

            Sarah smirked at him as the selector called "Right foot, Blue!" 

            "Merlin!" Remus exclaimed. "I have to get my foot to where my head is – that's not possible!"

            Sarah gave a triumphant "Yes!" as she swiftly flipped over so that her foot landed exactly where Remus had wanted to put his.

            "HEY!" he cried out, indignant.

            "Sorry!" Sarah laughed. "Only place I could go that was anatomically possible."

            Remus grumbled to himself for a few seconds, unconsciously enjoying the view of Sarah bent over on top of him, then attempted to move to a free blue spot. Inevitably, he lost his balance as he did so, taking Sarah down with him as he tumbled to the ground.

            "It's a draw!!" The voice called out.

            "Ow." Remus said; Sarah had landed on him with her elbow in his stomach. Without thinking, he flipped her over so that her elbow was no longer threatening to disembowel him. Now, however, she was underneath him, smiling up at him as he unsuccessfully attempted to brush away the sandy brown hair that fell in his eyes. As she reached up and tucked it behind his ear, smiling shyly at him, Remus suddenly became very aware of their position. "Sarah…" he began, gently taking hold of her hand as she tucked his hair away, but found he couldn't finish. Not with their legs entangled, his arms around her. He moved down towards her, closer and closer.

            Sarah's free had reached up behind his head and pulled him closer down to her. She could feel his heart beating fast and knew that hers would be doing the same. Their lips met softly, the world around them quickly disappearing as they moved closer to each other. Sarah's mouth opened slightly as Remus's hands began to move over her body. Breaking away momentarily to kiss her neck, he elicited a soft "Remus…" from Sarah.

            Remus stopped abruptly. Pulling away from her, he disentangled himself and moved away.

            "Remus – what?" Sarah was confused and hurt. What had happened? She knew that she liked him, and that he liked her just as much back. Or did he? Remus glanced at her then turned away, wishing he hadn't. Her eyes looked hurt and disappointed.

            "I thought…" she stammered. _Oh man_, she thought._ I sound like a lovesick teenager. Doesn't help that I'm only 22, does it?_

            "Remus," she began again. "I really – I really like you. I thought that… you … liked me…" She trailed off, feeling more and more embarrassed by the second.

            "No, Sarah." He said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. Sarah's heart shattered. _What????_ her mind cried out. _No, you have to! You can't just – kiss me like that and not like me! _

            "Sarah." He turned around to face her, not meeting her eyes. "You are a great girl, really, Sarah, you are. But… I'm an older, dangerous wizard, and you're a young…" he stopped. He'd been about to say harmless, but with Sarah's abilities and her job, both of them knew that would be an outright lie. "You're… a muggle. I'm a wizard." he finished.

            Sarah fought back tears. She quickly busied herself with tidying up the game so he wouldn't see her glistening eyes. How could he say this to her? This was nothing like the Remus she had fallen for. He knew all about people treating you differently because of what you were and not who you were.

            "Right, then." Sarah said, looking at him full in the face now, not hiding the tears running down her cheeks. Anger started to course through her veins. He didn't think she was good enough, then? She'd show him. "Glad we got that out in the open, Remus. It wouldn't have been good if either of us got too _attached_, now." She turned on her heel and left, her words hanging in the air.

            Remus stood rooted to the spot, staring at where she'd been moments earlier. Her words kept playing over and over again in his head, until he realized that she was completely gone – he'd driven her away and she wasn't coming back.

            *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

            *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

A/N: What do you think?? What should they do now? Review if you like, or if you don't, or if you just want to say hello!

Laren


	10. Awkward

Disclaimer: I own nothing except that which you do not recognize. Everything else is J.K's.

A/N: Every time I write a new chap I like it better than everything else I've written – and I hope you do too! Thanks to those who reviewed – Aljinon, Remus will _eventually _come to his senses – but you'll just have to keep reading to find out when! Anyways, here's another one – yes, I'm going to keep this going until the end that I have envisioned for it – so…enjoy!

On with the Story!

Chapter 10: Awkward

            "Oh, that's good…" Bill Weasley sighed with relief as he plunked himself down onto one of the various chairs around the kitchen table. Grimmauld Place was no Burrow, but it was somewhere he could rest. Laying his head down on his arms, he soon found himself drifting off.

            His rest, however, was soon disturbed by a quiet "Oh, Bill!" from the doorway. He looked up groggily to see Sarah standing a few feet in front of him, smiling gently and shaking her head.

            "I suppose we're not going out tonight, then?" she grinned cheekily at him and moved closer. Bill shook himself awake and got up to hug her.

            "How are you Sarah? I haven't seen you for – what – four weeks, now? Where've you been?"

            "I went to see my grandmother." Sarah replied, returning his hug and then walking over to the cupboards.

            "Look at you, you're dead on your feet." she shook a finger in mock exasperation at him.

            "Harry's right." said Bill. "You are way too much like my mother sometimes. Are you sure you're not a long lost Weasley cousin?"

            Sarah stuck her tongue out at him and proceeded to start making them hot chocolate. "Is Harry all right, then? He must be glad to be back at school."

            "Oh, yeah." Bill said emphatically. "He got back just in time to play quidditch – that cheered him right up. Although… I think he and Remus must have had a talk or something. He seemed much better by the time he went back to school."

            Sarah stiffened at Remus's name, but Bill didn't notice so she quickly continued. "That's good, then. Oh – the third bedroom on the second floor is ready for you – I know, I'm doing a Molly."

            Bill grinned as she rolled her eyes at him. "You know, I've never met her."

            Bill started. "Really? You two would get along splendidly – you'd be a real surrogate Weasley in no time. You'll see her at Christmas if you're here. Merlin, that's only a bit over three weeks away!"

            Sarah frowned at him. "Christmas, here? What about your home – the Burrow, right?"

            Bill's face momentarily darkened, and Sarah quickly caught on – it wasn't exactly safe nowadays.

            "Yes, of course, Christmas here… well, I should be here." She said, saving Bill the trouble of having to continue.

            "Good, good." Bill yawned. For a few seconds, the only sound in the kitchen was that of the kettle  - the hot chocolate was almost ready. "Yeah…" he continued. "You, me, Charlie, Tonks…" he looked quizzically at Sarah. "You met Tonks?"

            Sarah nodded. "She's fun."

            Bill laughed. "That's the understatement of the year. Well, we'll all go out and have a good time – hopefully we'll all be off duty. Goodness, Sarah, without you girls… me and Charlie wouldn't know what to do with ourselves."

            "You that bored with all of us old folk?" Remus asked, entering the kitchen.

            Bill turned and gave Remus a long stare. Sarah got up to get pour the now ready hot chocolate, grateful for the distraction. Bill had no idea about her and Remus.

            "We don't know what we'd do without the girls to…spice things up a little." Bill waggled his eyebrows suggestively at Sarah, and she rolled her eyes and laughed at him. Remus's head snapped towards Sarah – he hadn't realized that she was the one in the kitchen with Bill. "And you," Bill pointed an accusatory finger at Remus. "have been taking over Sarah's affections lately, and me n' Charlie find that this we must protest."

            "Bill!" Sarah cried, giving him a small slap to the back of his head. "My affections are mine to distribute as I see fit." She said loftily, setting down a steaming mug of hot chocolate in front of him. 

            Bill grinned at her while Remus chuckled half-heartedly. _Well, Bill_, Remus thought. _You've got Sarah all to yourself now. I don't think she'll ever want anything to do with me for a very long time._ It had been five days since Sarah had left him in the drawing room, and during that time he could barely tell that someone else was living in the house. He knew that she was there – he'd heard her talking to Dumbledore about something she was doing for the Order, but she'd made sure that they never crossed paths. What made it all the more worse is that it seemed as if she was doing it for him, as if she thought that he didn't want to be around her anymore. If he came home late, he'd find that she'd cooked dinner and left it for him, and she made sure that during his transformation that week that he had everything he needed. But it had still been five days since they'd said a word to each other, five days in which Remus was already regretting what he'd said to her.

            _No,_ he told himself. _It was for the best. It would never have worked between the two of us, anyway. I just shouldn't have told her like that, that's all. I'll be lucky if she even wants to be friends after what I said._

Not daring to look Sarah in the eyes, he smiled at Bill. "Deeply sorry Bill, she's all yours – if you don't mind, Sarah, that is." He ducked his head to avoid a slap from Sarah. _At least she's being nice to me around Bill. Maybe…_

            "Is that hot chocolate I smell?" He asked.

            "Don't be ridiculous." Sarah snorted, her patience wearing thin. So this is how it was, then. Muggles were fit to be acquaintances with, maybe even friends – but anything more? No, they just weren't good enough. "Of course it is, my _dear wolf friend_ – you of all people should have no problem smelling what it is." The words were out of her mouth before she had a chance to calm down. 

            Bill looked startled at the obvious bitterness of her voice, and Remus just dropped his eyes, disappointment and resignation covering his face. Sarah felt her chest constrict as she looked at him – she hadn't meant to hurt him like that – but what he said to her still rang through her mind. '_You're… a muggle. I'm a wizard.' _he'd told her, as if she was second-class to him. _Still_, she argued with herself. _ You know you're better than that. Just because others act like that doesn't mean you have to._

            "Sorry!" she said, smiling apologetically. "Here, Remus, have mine. I wasn't planning on having any in the first place, and I know that you like them after.. well, you know. I'm just a bit tired. Michael's been working me hard all week, and you know how I get when I don't have enough sleep." Just then she yawned – she really was exhausted. Bill looked relieved at her explanation and Remus smiled a little.

            "Of course, Sarah." Remus said. "I think we all need to turn in."

            "Well, then, I'll see you two in the morning." Sarah turned to leave the kitchen but Remus turned and caught her arm without thinking. Sarah gasped and pulled away quickly, anger flashing in her eyes.

            "What-" she began furiously, but Remus cut her off.

            "Sorry – I just meant – I – why don't you stay and have some hot chocolate with us?" he smiled gently at her. _It was worth a try_, he thought.

            Sarah's gaze softened a little, but she didn't smile back at him. "I've got to work." She explained. "You remember Nolan? Some of his colleagues are giving us a bit more trouble than we originally anticipated. I should be gone all night. Don't stay up too late, Bill."

            "Couldn't if I tried." Bill replied, looking curiously at the two of them. Although he'd brushed off Sarah's earlier comment, this display of veiled animosity was a bit much to play off as fatigue. The two men watched Sarah leave, sitting in silence until they heard the front door closing as she left for work. The quiet reigned for a while as they sipped their drinks, Bill eyeing Remus suspiciously while Remus kept his head down, fully aware of Bill's gaze on him.

            Finally, Bill could take it no more. "What happened just now?" he asked.

            "Sarah left for work?" Remus answered, draining his mug and getting up to leave.

            "Oh, no you don't." Bill said, suddenly wide-awake. Before Remus knew it a strong hand was on his shoulder forcing him to sit back down. "Don't even think about apparating away. I will find you, so you'd better answer my questions now."

            Remus sighed, and decided it would be in his best interest to answer Bill – an angry Weasley was never a pleasant thing. "I grabbed her a little to harshly – and you know how Sarah gets about that type of thing. She's very much her own person, she is."

            Bill didn't answer, but looked him up and down sceptically. Finally, he shook his head. "I may not know her as well as you do, but I do know that Sarah is the type of person who also appreciates the fact that someone is looking out for her. She wouldn't be so angry with you just for that. And what about earlier? Her _dear wolf friend_? That was not like her at all."

            Remus sat quietly for a few seconds. "Do you know about her job, Bill? And her 'talents'?" 

            "Yes." Bill said, exasperated. "She told me a week after she told you. What does that have to do with anything?"

            "It – well – it doesn't, I suppose." Remus ran his hands through his hair. "She and I, well, especially after I found out – we've been getting closer." Bill arched an eyebrow, but remained silent. "And then, I didn't - I mean, I don't think it would work between us, so I … stopped things."

            Bill looked incredulous. "What the hell is wrong with you, Remus?? This amazing girl – and yes she's just my friend but that doesn't mean I don't see it – this amazing girl clearly wants to be with you and you don't think it would work?? Old age is getting to you, man."

            "And that is exactly it, Bill." Remus said. Bill looked confused for a second before understanding dawned. 

            "Nah, come on, you're not that old – I was just kidding with you! You're only what, thirty-five? Thirty-six?"

            "Thirty-eight." Remus dryly responded. "I'm an old man next to her twenty-two."

            "Still – look, other couples with bigger age differences have made it work! Please tell me you didn't tell Sarah that you were too old for her."

            "Are you joking?" Remus laughed sadly. "She would have utterly and totally ignored me and proceeded to keep on doing whatever we'd been doing before."

            Bill smirked at this last comment. Both he and Charlie had noticed the mutual attraction between Remus and Sarah. They even had a bet going to see when they'd actually get together. With the two of them mostly all alone in the big house, the brothers had agreed that it wouldn't be far off. 

            "No," Remus continued. "I didn't say that."

            "Then what else could you have possibly said? I don't like you?" Bill was searching his brains as to what could have caused the rift between the two.

            "Yes, that was in there." Remus admitted. Bill sighed.

            "Oh, you're hopeless. But it's blatantly obvious that you do like her, so what other reason…" he trailed off as a an idea suddenly occurred to him. "No." he said after a few seconds. "Tell me you didn't say that – oh, no."

            Remus raised an eyebrow at Bill, telling him to continue.

            "Remus," the younger man said. "Please, please please tell me that you didn't say that it was because she was…" he didn't want to finish the sentence. If Remus had told her that, he could definitely see how she would be so upset.

            "I told her she was a muggle. And that I was a wizard. Therefore, nothing could happen." Remus said flatly. When Bill didn't respond, he got up to leave the kitchen.

            He was almost at the doorway when Bill's voice stopped him. "How," Bill said, sounding like his teeth were gritted together. "How could you have said that to her?? You, of all people! Merlin, what were you thinking??"

            Remus turned around slowly. Bill's fists were clenched together. _He has every right to be angry,_ Remus thought. _Unlike me, he's her friend._ "I wasn't thinking." He told Bill. "And now I'm paying for it."

            *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *            

A/N: Good? Bad? Remus is such an idiot, isn't he?? (I know, I wrote it, but still…) Anyhoo, let me know what you think! Your reviews are greatly appreciated!


	11. Voices in the Night

Disclaimer: I own none of this, except that which you do not recognize. It all belongs to the great J.K Rowling, despite the fact that she went and killed off Sirius.

A/N: Okay, so things are still a little depressing in this chapter folks, but never fear – when you hit the bottom, there's nowhere to go but up. Anyhoo, Cassandra, if you're still reading this, here's your character!! And to everyone out there, be warned, I will be starting something in this chapter that is very cliché, but please, have patience, and just enjoy the story. So…

On with the Story!

Chapter 11: Voices in the Night

            On a cold, clear December night, the wind howled through the trees and most everyone slept soundly in their beds. Other than the plaintive sounds of the wind in the alleyways of London, there were no other noises that dared disturb the peace of the night. At the end of a deserted street, a huge stone mansion stood imposingly behind gates that looked as if they had been locked for at least a century. The house was silent, dead, its empty windows staring onto the street like the empty eyes of someone who has seen and lost too much. 

            For a while, nothing moved except the occasional dry leaf rustling across the once grand courtyard. However, if one watched long enough, they would see a slim figure seemingly appear out of nowhere as it materialized from the shadows. Stepping into the moonlight, it was now clear that this person was a woman, a young woman, with hair braided back and dressed in sleek black clothes. She stood silently for a moment, then, just as suddenly as she'd appeared, strode over to a huge stone lion, one of two guarding the elegant front door. Moving behind it, she sunk quickly out of sight, and nothing more moved in the night.

            *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          

            "Sarah!" 

            The tired young woman turned her head to locate the owner of the voice. She smiled as she saw whom it belonged to.

            "Hey, Cass." She walked over to a tall, tawny-haired woman with laughing hazel eyes. "When did you get back in?"

            "Back to England or back to the Mansion?" Cassandra replied, grinning at her younger friend.

            "Knowing you, they probably occurred within hours of each other, but I'll go with the former." The two women turned a corner as they strode down long, wooden panelled hallways, eventually coming to a stop in front of the smooth metal door of an elevator. Stepping inside, they continued their conversation.

            "Actually, I got back to England a week ago." Cassandra shrugged her shoulders. "I was all set to get back here on the double, but Michael told me to take some time off and see my family. Good thing too, really. I was too tired to jump into anything else. I'd probably have royally screwed something up. Speaking of tired, girl – you certainly look it."

            "Nah," Sarah said, even as she was fighting back a yawn. "I'm fine."

            Cassandra looked at her sceptically. To an outsider, it may have looked as if nothing was amiss with Sarah. Her curls were securely tied back in a long French braid and her black leather jumpsuit was immaculate. Her boots were clean, her back straight and her face calm and composed. Cassandra, however, had worked with Sarah several times over the past three years and could see all too clearly that the usual bounce in her step was gone. She also noted, much to her dismay, that when Sarah thought she wasn't looking, her shoulders sagged slightly in comparison to her usually regal posture.

            "Sure." Cassandra said, giving her a long, hard look. She sighed – unless Sarah was ready to tell you something, it was near impossible to force it out of her. "Have you gone to see any of your family recently?" she asked, steering away from dangerous grounds.

            "I went to see my grandmother – and had a great vacation at the same time, so I _am_ fine, Cass." Cassandra's musings had not escaped Sarah's awareness. "But I haven't seen my family in Canada or England for ages. And when I do see them… it feels so strange, you know."

            "Yeah." Cassandra replied as the elevator door opened to reveal a corridor full of people going all about them. "Ah, MI5." Cassandra sighed. "Closest thing I have to a home, really. I do know what you mean, Sarah. We're not quite part of the rest of the world anymore, and here is only temporary. I mean, you're the only person I really know, and even then…"

            Sarah smiled at Cassandra as the walked through the bustle of people. This was one of the main reasons why she'd always liked Cass; she always knew just what Sarah meant.

            "It must be even harder for you – you're still caught up with that 'society', right? I guess right now life is really throwing you for a wrench."

            Sarah remained silent, not sure if she wanted to tell Cassandra everything at that time. They kept on walking, crossing into another corridor, turning into another, and eventually made their way up several flights of stairs. Upon reaching the landing at the top, the two women proceeded to continue to navigate their way through the labyrinth of MI5 until they arrived at a medium sized office. Sarah immediately collapsed into a chair behind her desk while Cassandra made herself at home on a long couch against the far wall.

            "Cass," Sarah groaned, making up her mind. "Oh Cass, you have no idea."

            Cassandra immediately sat up. "Spill, girl." she commanded, and spill Sarah did. The situation with Remus had raised so many doubts and fears within Sarah and there was only so much of it that she could keep to herself. Although she never told Cassandra just what the 'society' she was involved with really was, she poured out all of her fears about being caught between the worlds, with no place that she really fit in. Admittedly, her non-romance with Remus was making her see things a lot worse, but she still meant every word when she told Cassandra that she had pretty much had it with things in general.

            "Cass – I don't know if I can take all this anymore. I need to belong somewhere – I hate floundering about, all on my own. Unique I can take, but _alone_??" she shuddered. "And alone is what I am, right now."

            Cassandra was alarmed. "Sarah, you're not seriously talking about quitting, are you? You can't do that! We need you! People need you! You can't leave!"

            Sarah stood up and moved around to the front of her desk, gathering her coat as she did.

            "And what about me?" she asked Cassandra. "Cass, what about what I need?"

            Cassandra was at a loss for words. Finally, seeing that Sarah was about to leave for the night, she called out to her. "Please – at least think this over, okay?"

            Sarah nodded, then slipped out the door, heading back the way they'd came.

            "Damn!" Cassandra muttered. "I need to see Michael."

            *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *            *          *          *          *          *          *          *

            Sarah walked briskly along beside her godfather as they strode through the Ministry of Magic. Although he was well over a hundred years old, it almost seemed as if he glided across the moonlit floors. Sarah was finding herself hard put to keep up.

            "Uncle Al, if you don't mind – why exactly are we here tonight?" At that time Sarah wanted nothing more than to be asleep in her bed, but Dumbledore had insisted that she accompany him to the Ministry as soon as she was available. True, he'd said that if she needed the rest, they could come another time, but Sarah could tell by the way he'd asked that it would be something better done sooner than later.

            Her godfather turned twinkling eyes to her serious ones. "Why, Sarah," he began.

"And here I was, labouring under the impression that my goddaughter was a telepath!"

            Sarah laughed softly. "Yeah, but you know, for some reason, I seem to recall that the last time I attempted to read your mind I ended up in bed for the better part of a week!"

            "You were just starting out then." Dumbledore observed mildly. "I wager that you would have considerably more success this time around."

            "Are you saying what I think you're – oh! Oh – oh – what…what is that!" Sarah clutched her hands to her ears. Although it had gone unnoticed at first, which she strongly suspected was due to her godfather's neat sidestepping of her original query, she now heard thousands of voices whispering all around her.

            "Ah, we are almost there, then." Dumbledore looked kindly at Sarah. "I suppose some explanations are in order."

            "Yes, _please_." Sarah said through gritted teeth, fighting to regain control. Dumbledore waited until she had done so, then continued. 

   
            "You see, my dear, in June of this year, as I'm sure you already know, there was a fight here in the Ministry. Some died in that fight, and, especially in the room that we are going to, many others have died here before them."

            "Oh, this is just great." Sarah muttered. She could see exactly where this was headed.

            "Let me guess," she said dryly. "The echoes of their thoughts as they died should be floating around, no?"

            "Yes…" Dumbledore gravely answered. "But you know how these things work. There will be echoes of living people's thoughts as well…"

            "Because they will have been trapped by the other echoes." Sarah finished, understanding the purpose behind their visit. "And if I can get a lock on what their minds feel like here, later on I can find their present location… Why didn't we think of this sooner?"

            Dumbledore smiled approvingly at Sarah's quick grasp of the situation. "Truth be told, I've been asking myself the same thing. "Ah, here we are. Are you ready?"

            Sarah took a deep breath and nodded. "All good" She said, and they stepped into the room with the veil.

            Despite all her mental preparations, the sheer volume of noise instantly overwhelmed her and she dropped to her knees, covering her ears. It seemed as if each whispering voice was trying to drill into her very being regardless of her best efforts to hold them at bay. The room about her began to spin, blur, and fade away, darkness swallowing everything until she felt a firm hand on her shoulder and heard her godfather's voice, calm and commanding.

            "_Breathe_, Sarah, _breathe._"

            Sarah grabbed onto his voice like a lifeline, holding onto it with all her strength. Slowly, she managed to force the voices down into submission, and got shakily to her feet, leaning on Dumbledore for support.

            "Okay." She said after a few seconds. "Now, I'm alright."

            "Very good then." Dumbledore replied. "Now, these are the minds that I want you to look for."

            As Dumbledore told Sarah the various persons she was looking for, she reached out, sorting through the voices for that particular echo. After what had seemed like hours, she had finally made her way methodically through all the people, finding everyone she was supposed to. Sarah wanted to try and start to look for them while it was fresh in her memory, but her godfather insisted that she get some rest after all the work she had just done.

            They were turning to leave when Sarah felt an echo drift by her. Instinctively listening, she stiffened as she heard the voice in her mind. Dumbledore, who had been watching her closely since she'd entered the room quickly rushed to her side and asked if there was anything wrong.

            "Uncle Al." she said, her voice strangely detached. "You do know that I can tell right off whom an echo belongs to, right?"

            "Yes, I am aware of that, Sarah." Dumbledore cautiously replied. "Did you just hear an interesting one?"

            "Well, I never met the man, but from what I've heard about him and what I'm  hearing right now – well, yes, this one is _definitely_ interesting."

            "Sarah." Dumbledore patiently waited as Sarah was obviously lost deep in thought. "Sarah," he tried again, a horrible suspicion forming in his mind. "Whose is it?"

            "Oh!" Sarah said, breaking out her reverie. "Oh, right. Yes, well, it's Sirius Black."

            Dumbledore arched an eyebrow. Sarah seemed rather agitated, but why should she be? She'd never known Sirius, although she'd heard a great deal about him. 

            "Ah." was all he managed to say. He waited, knowing there was more to come.

            "That's not the point, Uncle Al." Sarah looked intently at him. "Echoes of the dead are solitary voices, with no connection to anything. They are nothing but echoes."

            "Yes?" Dumbledore prompted, but he suspected he knew what was coming.

            "Echoes of the living, however, almost have a pulse – you can feel the life of the person they belong to, just that they are someplace else."

            "What, Sarah," Dumbledore asked, his voice low and serious. "What are you trying to tell me?"

            "Uncle Al," Sarah sighed. "This echo – Sirius – it's…it's alive."

            *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *            *          *          *          *          *          *          *

A/N: YES I KNOW IT'S CLICHÉ!! But I love Sirius waayy too much to cut him out of the story. I can't do it! I'm just in too much denial! Let me know where you think Sirius should have been all this time! Is he just behind the veil, or is he someplace else?? Review and let me know!

-Laren


	12. Decisions

Disclaimer: That which you do not recognize is mine, the rest is J.K. Rowling's

A/N: Oh!! You like that I'm bringing him back!! Yes!! Well, here he comes, then! Be warned, this is therefore going to be a long one, but it's packed with good stuff, including action, suspense, romance, drama, humour, you name it this chapter has it all! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, both old and first time reviewers, I'm really glad you like the story! For all those Remus lovers (I just realized I left him completely out of the last chapter!! gasp ) you'll get plenty of him in this chap!

On with the Story!!

Chapter 12: Decisions

"No."

The finality in Albus Dumbledore's voice was unmistakeable. No one had ever dared to question that tone, to disobey when the authority of his command still reverberated about the room.

No one, that is, except his goddaughter.

"_Yes_." Sarah said, every bit as imperious, her own presence rising up and clashing with the sheer volume of magic that her godfather commanded.

The two of them locked gazes, standing opposite from each other in the entrance hallway of Grimmauld Place. After their trip to the Ministry, they'd returned to Headquarters. Upon their arrival, Dumbledore had instantly begun to cast some very complex spells whilst Sarah paced the downstairs, unable to sleep in light of her discovery. She didn't need any spells to confirm what she could almost reach out and touch, it felt so real. Her mind was abuzz with the possibilities. Sure, he wouldn't exactly be coming back to a free life, but she knew how happy his being alive would make a lot of people. Especially Remus and Harry, whom Sirius Black obviously meant the world to.

At this point, incredibly excited by what she'd found, she locked onto the feel of his echo and reached out. Dumbledore was too absorbed by his intricate spell work to notice Sarah's eyelids slowly closing. He didn't see them snap back open, now luminous liquid silver rimmed with bright icy blue.

Eventually, his spells finished, Dumbledore turned to his goddaughter, who appeared to be deep in thought. 

"Sarah," he sighed. The ramifications of Sarah's discovery were enormous. "Sirius is indeed alive."

"I know!" Sarah smiled at Dumbledore. "And I know where he is."

Contrary to Sarah's expectations, everything had gone downhill from that point. Dumbledore was none too please that she searched for him when she badly needed to rest. Sarah attempted to placate him by informing him of her ability to bring him back.

"Bring him back?" Dumbledore questioned. "_You _can? Only you?"

"Well…" Sarah saw that the situation was quickly going from bad to much, much worse. "Yes, since he's still behind the veil, right? 'Cept, he wasn't dead when he fell, so he's drifting away, but he's still there. It's not too far for me to reach. But, no one else could, though, because your magic doesn't work behind the veil, and you obviously can't send someone beyond it."

Dumbledore's face got very serious and he opened his mouth to debate, but Sarah, hoping to convince him, spoke first.

"And wait till we tell Remus and Harry!! They'll be thrilled!"

And then it had begun. Dumbledore quickly pointed out that they could not, under any circumstances, tell Remus and Harry. Since Sirius was, as shown by his own spells and confirmed by Sarah's telepathy, drifting further and further away, there was a distinct chance that they might not be able to bring him back in time. Sarah, however, had disagreed. 

"I can do it!" she insisted. "I can do this, I know I can!"

"You may be sure, but I, however, am not. We don't know if he's close enough for you to reach, and there may be yet other ways. But those are even less likely to work, so we shouldn't tell them and get their hopes up only to be let down again."

"All the more reason for me to do it as soon as possible!" Sarah hissed. "We're running out of time as we speak!"

Dumbledore looked taken aback by her determination but was unmovable. Dawn had come and gone by that point, and despite their fatigue, they continued, neither budging from their point of view.

"_No._" Dumbledore told her. "We are not going to take that chance."

"Don't argue with him, Sarah," Remus's voice came from upstairs as he made his way down towards them. He had only heard the last few seconds of their debate, and although he did not know what it was about, he had come to the decision that someone had better relieve the tension, and fast. "Not when he's talking like that, anyways!"

Sarah turned to smile at Remus, whose heart promptly leaped. _Has she forgiven me?_ he thought. _Could she have changed her mind overnight?_

"Good morning, Remus." She said, turning back to Dumbledore with a rather artificially sweet expression.

"Who said anything about 'we'?" she smiled grimly. "I know the risks, and _I am _ going to take them. And for that matter…" she turned towards Remus again.

"No, you're not." Dumbledore pulled out his wand.

Remus looked between the two of them, thoroughly alarmed. He had never, ever seen anyone talk to Albus Dumbledore in such a manner, as if they were absolutely convinced that his opinion was of no matter whatsoever.

Sarah held up a hand to Dumbledore and turned back towards Remus. He took a step back as he looked at her – her normally brown eyes were rimmed with blue and the centre was rapidly changing colour. In the background he saw Dumbledore open his mouth to say a spell, but no words came out.

"Remus," Sarah said, her eyes now silver. "Remus, Uncle Al and I made an interesting discovery last night, didn't we?"

Dumbledore looked furious, but nodded after a moment.

"Oh?" Remus managed. Sarah's eyes were unnerving him to no end and despite the fact that she was a good two feet away from him, it felt as if he could sense her very heartbeat pulsing in the air around him.

"Remus," Sarah said. "Sirius is alive."

Remus sat stock still on his bed, staring at the wall in shock. Sirius was alive!! _Alive! _It seemed as if nothing else could ever capture his attention again as that one piece of information kept running through his mind, over and over again. In the back of his awareness he could vaguely hear raised voices, but he was incapable of paying them any attention.

"Hell itself is raging downstairs." Bill commented, standing at his open doorway. Judging by his dishevelled hair and rumpled attire, he'd only just got out of bed. Remus's head snapped up.

"What?" he asked, perplexed.

"Are you deaf?" Bill joked. "I usually sleep like a log but they woke me up. Don't tell me that you can't hear them fighting."

Suddenly Remus became aware of thunderous voices coming from downstairs. Evidently both Dumbledore and Sarah had some very strong opinions that neither seemed willing to concede to the other.

"Merlin!" Remus exclaimed. "He sounds angrier than he did when the dementors attacked Harry!"

They listened for a few more minutes, but the voices stopped abruptly after a time and only a low murmur could be heard.

"Well," Bill grinned. "Now that the entertainment is over, I think I'll get cleaned up. I have to go down to Gringotts today."

Remus, still slightly dazed from the morning's events, simply remained where he was, the chant filling his head once more. _Sirius is alive. Sirius is alive._

Once again, though, his thoughts were interrupted, but this time by a warm, breathing somebody collapsing on the bed next to him. Sarah rolled onto her back and looked up at Remus's startled face.

"I don't understand that man!" she fumed.

Remus chuckled. "No one really does, Sarah." He smiled tentatively at her.

Sarah stared at him for a few seconds; her eyes widening as she remembered the current state of their 'relationship', but then relaxed and smiled shyly back.

"One second he wants me to come back and help out, the next he's convinced I'm incapable of anything important." She sighed, clearly frustrated. "Maybe he was right, maybe I shouldn't have told you."

"No!" Remus was quick to reassure her otherwise. "If I had found out years from now that you'd known Sirius was alive and you didn't do anything or tell me…well I think that I would have a rather hard time with you after that." Sarah breathed a sigh of relief, but Remus continued. "What do you mean, he thinks you incapable of anything important? And what was all that about downstairs?"

"I…uh… may have stopped him for a bit…" Sarah looked embarrassed. "I was being childish, I really shouldn't have done it. And – well – Sirius fell behind the veil, right? Well, you can't go back there, and neither will any magic work. But I'm not magical, so, I could get him."

Remus was not entirely satisfied with her first explanation, but he let it go and instead focussed on the second. "I'm not sure I see a problem, though. Sarah, this is wonderful! Truthfully, it's not important that you're not magical. You're still one of the most amazing people I know, and it just goes to show – different people have different things to offer!" he smiled exuberantly at her, thanking every possible deity on the face of the earth that Sarah existed.

Sarah, however, was silent. Instead she sat up and moved stiffly away from Remus. "Now if only they could come to that conclusion at the Ministry." She said wistfully, looking down at her hands.

Remus began to agree, but caught himself as he realized what he'd just said to her. _Oh no,_ he thought. _I'm just making this worse, aren't I?_ He let his head sink into his hands.

Sarah smiled sadly at him. _He's not trying to hurt you. _She told herself. Gathering up her courage, she placed a hand comfortingly on his back.

"Hey, it's alright. I mean, I'm eventually going to be called away on another mission for MI5 and then where would we be? Friendship we can keep going, but anything more…" Remus held his breath. "Anything more would be ridiculous to think that we could actually work out anything real or lasting."

Remus had spent the last week telling himself that he didn't have any more feelings for Sarah Brenton. It was all for nothing, he realized, as she said that it wouldn't be possible for them to be anything more than friends. His heart broke, even though he knew that she was right. He looked up at her and saw that she was biting her lower lip, as if to hold in some outburst that neither of them were ready to deal with.

They stared at each other for a moment, both coming to the painful realization that the other meant more to them than they cared to admit. In that second, they knew exactly how the other felt about them, and suddenly everything was going to work out between the two of them. Remus slowly inched forward and gently slid his arms around her, Sarah doing the same, each holding the other tightly.

Suddenly, though, the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs jolted them back to reality.

"I'm sorry, Sarah." Remus said quietly, reluctantly letting her go.

Sarah nodded, smiling weakly up at him.

"Ah, Remus, Sarah." Dumbledore appeared in the doorway. "I think that the three of us need to have a talk."

"Wait a minute." Remus held up a hand as Sarah began to protest. "Professor – are you saying that there's a chance that you might not be able to bring him back?"

Dumbledore nodded gravely at the younger man. "Yes, that is exactly what I am telling you, Remus, and why I was against you knowing in the first place."

Sarah snorted. "Yes, that is what _he's_ saying. But _I'm _saying that despite the fact that there are risks, I can reach him! That is, if we don't wait too long."

"We have to be sure that you can, Sarah." Dumbledore said patiently, but this only served to further annoy Sarah.

"Uncle Al, I am already sure, and _I'm_ the one who can do it!" By the time you wait and see – it would be too late! And - UGH! Oh, forget it. We've already had this fight."

"Yes, we have." Dumbledore firmly said. "And we-"

"_You_." Sarah interjected.

"we decided to wait." He resolutely finished.

Sarah turned her head away, clearly attempting to calm down before speaking.

"Sarah," Remus said softly. "Sarah, Sirius was – is – my best friend, and it means a lot to me that you're willing to take the chance and try and bring him back."

Sarah harrumphed, but he could see that her breathing was slowing down. Encouraged, he continued.

"We need to be sure, Sarah – I need to be sure – and you say you are, but you're exhausted. You've been going non-stop lately; at least rest a little."

Dumbledore smiled gratefully at Remus as Sarah sighed and turned back towards the two men.

"Alright." She said. "I'll rest – I know I need it. But I just can't shake the feeling that it will be too late if we wait."

"If it makes you feel better, my dear, I have already started setting up the spells that could be used to bring him back." Dumbledore said gently. Inwardly, he smiled. This was the Sarah he knew, the one who didn't let a problem go until she'd solved it, the girl who would go out of her way to help someone that she'd never met.

"Yeah," Sarah yawned. "Wow, I really do need to sleep." She started to get up from the table, then stopped. "Was there anything else, Uncle Al?"

Dumbledore shook his head in the negative. "No, I think I'll just have a quick word with Remus."

Sarah smiled at them and left the room, wasting no time in collapsing into bed. Downstairs, Dumbledore surveyed Remus gravely, who was leaning heavily on his hands. After a time, Remus raised his head to look at the older man.

"You know," he spoke slowly. "Sarah's feelings are usually right."

Dumbledore looked sharply at him. "That may be so," he said. "But in a situation such as this, we absolutely need to be sure. Which is why, Remus, I need you to keep an eye on Sarah, especially today."

Remus was mildly puzzled. "Sarah may have her opinions, Albus, but I'm sure she respects your decisions."

Dumbledore shook his head, smiling lightly. "Sarah respects my decisions because she usually feels that I know what I'm doing. Unfortunately I'm also human, and so I also fall prey to bad decisions." He closed his eyes for a moment as he thought of Harry's outburst at the close of the last school year. "And when she feels that she is right – well, it's very hard to stop her, Remus."

Remus's eyebrow had shot up during Dumbledore's mini-speech, but he merely nodded. "In that case then… Merlin! Sirius is alive!!" A smile lit up his usually tired face.

"I know, my boy" Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling as he saw the excitement creep across Remus's face. "Oh, I know."

Remus slipped quietly into Sarah's bedroom, stepping as lightly as possible so as not to wake her, but she still turned around to face him.

"Hi," she said sleepily. "What time is it?"

"Four." Remus replied, sitting down on the side of her bed. "You've been asleep for a good eight hours now. Did you want to get up and eat something?"

"Mmm." Sarah shifted, snuggling further under the covers. "Thanks, but … I think… I'll…" she yawned widely and Remus grinned at her.

"You'll sleep some more?" Sarah smiled drowsily up at him.

"What did Uncle Al want to say to you?" she murmured, already falling back asleep.

"Oh, nothing much…" he smiled when he saw that Sarah was fast asleep. He smoothed her hair back, and before he could catch himself, bent down and kissed her cheek. His own cheeks flushed red, he quickly got up and left the room, hoping that he hadn't woken her.

He did not, in fact, wake her up, but he might as well have done so. While he was downstairs in the library, Sarah was tossing and turning, dreaming fitfully. In her restless sleep she suddenly cried out "No!" and flung her arm out as if to hit her imaginary attacker. The sound it made as it made contact with the wall beside her bed was a resounding bong that reverberated ominously around the house. Downstairs Remus, who had just been deliberating over whether or not he should have sided with Dumbledore, jumped a foot in the air in shock. Heart racing, he made his way upstairs, listening carefully with his wand out in front of him. Opening the door to Sarah's room, he sighed with relief as he saw her, spread-eagled on her bed, one arm against the wall that she'd obviously hit in her sleep.

Lowering his wand, he slowly backed out of the room, making his way back downstairs. Sarah, however, suddenly sat straight up in bed, her silver eyes shining bright, wide-awake. "Oh, no." she whispered.

Remus sat back down in the library, but now he found himself unable to shake a nagging feeling that something was not right with the Sirius situation. He considered flooing Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts, but after a few minutes, it seemed to fade. He didn't have to relax, though. The first feeling may have been gone but it was now replaced by an even more insistent notion that he hadn't done something important that he was supposed to have done. It grew and grew, eventually taking hold of him to the point that he was wearing a path down on the library floor from pacing it. Suddenly realization washed over him and his stomach plummeted. 

"Oh Merlin." His heart momentarily stopped. "Sarah."

Not caring whether or not he was disturbing her rest, a horrible suspicion growing bigger and bigger in his mind, he leapt up the stairs three at a time, pounding down the hall to her bedroom and barging through the door.

It was empty. Her bedcovers had been flung aside, a drawer left open with clothes strewn everywhere as if she'd had to leave in a hurry and had thrown on the first thing she'd found.

"Sarah!" he called, growing more desperate by the second. He ran wildly all over the house, hoping against hope that she would come out of a room and smile at him and say, "What's all the racket for? Weren't you the one to tell me to get some rest?" and then they'd laugh about it afterwards.

"SARAH!!!" he yelled, but to no avail. He thought frantically for a second, trying to remember where she and Dumbledore had said Sirius was. "Oh, no, Sarah, no." Sirius was still behind the veil – Sarah would without a doubt be at the department of mysteries that very moment. Not bothering to get a cloak, he apparated to the Ministry, calling up every ounce of strength he had to run flat out down to Sarah.

_Sarah, you should at least have waited for someone to come with you, Sarah, what if something goes wrong? What if you can't do it? What if you can, but you get trapped? What if you're too late??!! Sarah!!_

He finally reached the room and tore open the door, racing inside. Sarah had turned towards him, looking tired but smiling slightly, and behind her was – Sirius??

"Geez, Moony, took you long enough to get here." 

A/N: Aaannnd he's back!!!! Oh this chapter was soo much fun – and there's even more good stuff coming in the next one!!! Review and let me know what you think!!! Oh, and I know I asked before, but I'll ask again – does anyone want to do any art for this? I'd love it if someone did!

-Laren


	13. Overboard

Disclaimer: Yep, anything you don't recognize is mine, anything else is J.K's.

A/N: yeah, so it's been a little while, but I've been momentarily distracted by the genius of virtualhogwarts.net – it's amazing!! Anyhoo, in this chapter, we will be having the real debut/return of everyone's beloved Sirius!. Have fun!! Oh, and thanks a bunch to everyone who reviewed, I got a couple new people this time around – keep on reading! I'm making this better (hopefully) bit by bit! I love all your reviews, people, thanks a bunch!

On with the Story!

Chapter 13: Overboard

            Upon apparating back to Grimmauld Place, they immediately found themselves surrounded by various members of the Order. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Tonks, Moody, Arthur, Molly, Bill and Charlie Weasley were just a few of the many that were all around them, including a few others that Sarah had never met.

            Before they could even move a muscle spell after spell came flying at them, the majority aimed at Sirius. He made to jump out of the way, but someone got him with a body bind, evidently intent upon determining then and there if he truly was Sirius Black.

            "Hey!" he cried, indignant. "Is that anyway to welcome me back?!"

            Most, however, ignored him, and would have continued until each and every one of them was thoroughly satisfied had not Dumbledore held up a hand, followed by an authoritative pronouncement that the man standing before them was indeed Sirius Black and not a Deatheater in disguise. Once this had been done, Remus immediately made a beeline for his friend, nearly knocking him over in the process.

            "Now, now, Moony," Sirius put on an expression of mock pain. "I'm a bit on the thin side – I haven't had anything to eat for a while – so handle with care, please."

            "Merlin, Sirius – its – you – its…" Remus was at a complete loss for words, thoroughly overjoyed to have one of his best friends back again.

            "Yup!" said Sirius, grinning widely. "It's seriously me!" Remus groaned as many of the Order members simultaneously rolled their eyes.

            "Harry?" Sirius asked, nervous of the answer. "If _dear old_ Trixie did anything to him…" the room's jovial atmosphere vanished in a second. Sirius's joking expression was gone, replaced by a much harder one that was reminiscent of the one he usually sported while holed up in headquarters.

            Molly, upon seeing the all too familiar depression begin to sink in, took things into her own hands. "Now, Sirius, don't worry yourself, Harry's fine – he'll be home in no time for Christmas. And you'll be fine too, if you just let me get some food in you…" she bustled around him, insisting upon mothering him despite the fact that Sirius actually looked exactly as he had the day he'd fallen behind the veil. The tension quickly lifted from the room and soon everyone was chatting animatedly, no one quite willing to let Sirius out of their sight lest he disappear again.

            Sarah took note of the situation; everyone was absorbed by something or another, and so decided that right then would be as good a time as ever to make an inconspicuous exit. Backing slowly out of the room, she figured that she could be back upstairs and in her bed in no time. Unfortunately for her, the mass of people in the room had momentarily separated Remus from Sirius. Just as she thought she was free, her foot inching through the doorway into the hall beyond, an arm shot out of nowhere and she suddenly found herself in the midst of everything, facing a very angry looking Remus.

            "And just where," he ground out, eyes blazing. "do you think you're going?"

            "Uh…" Sarah frantically searched her mind for something that would appease Remus. Guiltily probing his mind gently, she stammered an explanation. "I thought you all should – you know – have some time with Sirius? Re-connect? Catch up?"

            Remus gave no audible reply, but his eyes told her all she needed to know, boring deeply into hers. The majority of people in the room were still enthralled by Sirius, but McGonagall and Dumbledore had turned instantly towards Sarah when Remus had first caught her sneaking off. She looked to them for help, but saw nothing but mild disapproval mixed with a hint of amusement in their eyes.

            "Er, maybe not? Well, look, it all worked out, though, didn't it?" she said, her voice falsely bright as she pleaded with Remus.

            "OH, AND THAT JUST MAKES IT ALL BETTER, DOESN'T IT??!!" Remus bellowed. If no one had paid them any heed before, they now had everyone's complete and undivided attention. Sarah cringed as jaws dropped around the room, heads swivelling in their direction. Most were in a state of shock – Remus Lupin was known as a calm, levelheaded man whose even temper was such that most people aspired to. And yet here he was, clearly furious and shouting at the top of his voice.

            "Remus," breathed Sirius, jaw slack. "Remus, I think we may need to catch up on a few things."

            Sarah opened her mouth to say that this would indeed be a most excellent idea, but took one look at the murderous glare Remus was giving her and decided against it.

            "No." she admitted at last.

            Remus had been gathering his breath to continue his tirade when Sarah replied, but promptly let it all out when he heard her reply, the wind taken out of his sails. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at them, intrigued. Remus losing his temper, I-don't-follow-any-rules-I-make-them Sarah admitting she was wrong without any fight whatsoever… what was the world coming to?

            "Sarah, you were in no condition to go and get Sirius – you were in no condition to even get out of bed!" Remus insisted, feeling the need to at least impress something upon Sarah. Unfortunately, his words only seemed to be of any importance to anyone _but_ Sarah. A murmur ran around the room as they left Remus's lips, causing Dumbledore to close his eyes in thought. Most had only a basic idea as to Sarah's abilities – only he really knew the true extent of them, and even then he wasn't entirely sure that she wasn't holding some of it back from him. There would be a lot of explaining to do at the next Order meeting.

            "Get me?" Sirius asked, bewildered. "Moony, am I missing something here?"

            "Sarah!" Bill exclaimed, throwing his own two cents in. "You were dead on your feet yesterday! What were you thinking?"

            "I was in bed _all day!!_" Sarah insisted, finding herself beset upon from all sides. "Look!!" she ran on the spot for a few seconds, eliciting some strange looks from various people around the room, especially Sirius. "I'm fine!"

            Sirius tilted his head to one side. _What is with this fight? _He wondered. _What is with this girl??_

            "Eh?" he said, totally confused.

            "I don't care." Remus stoically announced. "If you are fine, well, but you could have… I mean…suppose you weren't able to bring him back and you got trapped behind it or worse you…"

            "Do I _look_ dead to you? No!!" Sarah tossed her head defiantly.

            "Right." Said Bill. "Okay, I'm officially joining the what the hell are you talking about club with Sirius right now. _Trapped?_"

            "Are you telling me," Sarah continued, seemingly oblivious to Bill's interruption of their 'discussion'. "that you would never do anything in life unless you were sure of the outcome? Where's the fun in that?!" She slowly advanced on Remus as she spoke, but he stood his ground.

            "This is not a philosophical discussion." Remus enunciated, closing off any more attempts by Sarah to get into such a topic. The tension in the air was so thick now that everyone watching them felt as if they could reach out and touch it. "You could have been hurt!!!"

            "Hey!!" Sirius said, looking mightily offended. Heads turned towards this new participation in what was now considered a highly entertaining debate. "Um, best friend of mine? What about _me!!_??"

            "And Sirius too!" Remus loyally added on. Sarah rolled her eyes.

            "Oh, he's fine. I'm fine. We're _all_ fine – you'd be fine too if you just accepted that we're all fine!!"

            "Actually," Sirius commented. "Molly, as you were saying earlier – is there anything to eat? I'm famished, really."

            "See??" Remus said, pointing at Sirius and displaying an astounding lack of mental capacity. "He's not fine!! You could have really been not fine!! And-"

            "I AM FINE!!!!!" Sarah yelled, exercising her lungs to the best of her ability.

            A hush came over the room as everyone looked to Remus to see how he would take Sarah's latest proclamation. Charlie Weasley privately thought that this was the most fun he'd ever had in the Order and so was rather disappointed when Remus's shoulders drooped as he took a step back from Sarah's imposing stance, going over to Sirius.

            "Alright, Sarah – I can see that." He said wearily.

            "Good!" Sarah said, more enthusiastically than she felt. The crowd that had gathered around them began to dissipate and she realized that she was every bit as famished as Sirius had said he was. Making her way over to the fridge, she saw that the people around her were talking quietly, sending curious glances her way now and then when they thought she wasn't looking. Her stomach grumbled and she rubbed it absently, hoping that there were leftovers from the meal Remus had made earlier for her. _Yeah, food would be good – I guess I am a bit tired…_she swayed slightly, catching the eye of Dumbledore across the room. He frowned at her and she immediately straightened up, smiling and waving at him. He looked intently at her for a few seconds, then turned away, but Sarah was fully aware that he was still watching her out of the corner of his eye.

            _Oh, honestly…_ Sarah thought, shaking her head to clear it of a sudden fog that seemed to have momentarily clouded her vision. Instead, though, she swayed even more on her feet, the world spinning and noise ringing in her ears.

            Remus, in the middle of the room with Sirius and Tonks, had been pointedly ignoring Sarah, despite the fact that he was actually watching her to make sure she was okay. After a few minutes, though, she seemed to be okay, so he turned away from her, opening his mouth to reply to Tonks's query about the day's events. A weak voice calling his name for help stopped him in his tracks however, and he found himself moving towards her instinctively.

            He had almost reached her when she said again "Remus?" very faintly, and gave him a small apologetic smile. "I'm…not…fine…" she managed and with that her legs gave from beneath her and she crumpled to the ground.

            It was only thanks to Remus's quick reflexes that he caught Sarah's head before it hit the hard floor.

            "Sarah!" He cried out, lifting her head up so that she face him. Seconds later, he wished he hadn't – Sarah's normally lively brown eyes stared unseeingly past him, her mouth slightly open and her face pale.

            "Oh Merlin," he breathed, holding her tightly. "Oh, no – she can't be…"

            Sirius had been just behind his friend and had seen Sarah fall. He'd only just met her, but he'd gathered enough from what Remus had just told him to know that the girl called Sarah who'd been standing in front of him when he emerged from the veil was the one responsible for getting him out of there.

            Kneeling down beside Remus, he quickly checked for her pulse. Remus looked desperately at him, mentally pleading with him not to say what was already painfully obvious.

            Sirius felt awful as he shook his head. "Sorry, Moony." He said, as gently as possible. "She's gone."

A/N: MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Oh yes I know I'm evil!!! Thanks to everyone who reviewed last time – keep on doing it!! I love it when you guys do, and if you all have ideas it really does help me! (although in this case _I _know for sure what's going to happen next – and you don't!! Muahahahaha!!!!) But input is still greatly appreciated!

            -Laren


	14. Confessions and Apologies

Disclaimer: I own only that which you do not recognize; anything else belongs to J.K.Rowling.

A/N: To all of you who reviewed, I am supremely grateful of your input, which mostly consisted of 'No!! She's not dead!!!! They still need to make babies!!' and to that I must say…. I entirely agree!! Who says she's dead!! I didn't! Sirius said she was gone – but she could have gone to sleep, for all we know!! So for all of you who despaired at her death, have no fear, I would never kill off my main character (not with so many loose ends, at any rate.) So read on, I'm glad you all still like it despite the fact that I left you with an awful cliffhanger.

On with the Story!!!

Chapter 14: Confessions and Apologies

            "I'm sorry, Moony." Sirius said, as gently as possible. "She's gone."

            Sirius felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Albus Dumbledore looking gravely down at him, Madame Pomfrey right behind him. _When did he call for Poppy?_ Sirius mused, but moved nonetheless moved quickly out of the way. She too felt for Sarah's pulse, which was a bit awkward, as Remus had gathered Sarah's limp body into his hands and was holding on to it for dear life, his face as pale as her lifeless one. Shaking her head, she stood up slowly.

            "Mr. Lupin," she spoke quietly and kindly. "I'll need to take her upstairs – If you'll let me just conjure a stretcher…"

            Remus shook his head. "No," he croaked out, his voice hoarse. "No, no, I'm not letting her go, no…"

            Most of the other people in the room looked on in silence; most had barely or not at all known Sarah. Those who did, however, stood by in shock. Bill found that the air around him was suddenly musty and choking him, as if it were filled with ash – his brother and Tonks looked at each other incredulously – Sarah, dead? No.

            "Remus," Dumbledore said gently to the younger man – his own voice sounded tired hollow. "Why don't you apparate upstairs with her, then?"

            Remus nodded numbly, and seconds later, was upstairs in her room, followed by Dumbledore, Sirius, McGonagall, Tonks and the two eldest Weasley brothers. Madame Pomfrey already had her wand out when she appeared, running it over Sarah's body, which Remus had carefully lain out on the bed. Everyone watched her carefully – she seemed to be concentrating furiously.

            "Hmm," she muttered, under her breath. To the others - mostly Remus – "Please, do not be alarmed. She may have stopped breathing, but…"

            "Corsious Alirosas." She commanded, and a bright yellow bolt of magic hit Sarah straight in the chest, causing her body to spasm off the bed.

            "What are you doing?" Remus cried, moving towards Sarah, but was held back by Sirius.

            "She knows what she's doing, Moony." Sirius said, holding on to his devastated friend.

            Madame Pomfrey repeated her command, and Sarah's body jumped once more. Remus choked back a sob – how was this happening? He understood that other people collapsed, tragically died young, but not _his _Sarah. "Oh, Sarah…" he whispered, feeling his heart utterly torn to pieces.

            Suddenly though, after the third bolt hit her chest, Sarah's eyes widened and she took in a huge gulp of air. For one split second she looked Remus directly in the eye – and then she fell back onto the bed, her eyes closed, but her chest rising and falling with the natural rhythm of the heart's beating.

            "It's okay," Madame Pomfrey bustled around Sarah. "She's comatose – but she's stable; at least, she is for now. Has this girl had no sleep??" she demanded, running various spells over Sarah simultaneously.

            "She slept today," Remus said, his voice laden with guilt. "But she's been working herself to death all week – I just – I didn't really notice – I…" he stopped, choking up over the fact that if they hadn't had their fight she probably wouldn't have worked so hard to be out of the house, that he'd left her alone and never saw that she wasn't sleeping properly. He hung his head, remorse overcoming him. Most of the others in the room misunderstood his actions, believing him to be upset about the display he and Sarah had put on earlier downstairs, but Bill, however, shot Remus an accusatory glance before he caught himself and reassured him.

            "You probably wouldn't have been able to convince her to stop – you know how Sarah gets." He smiled at Remus, as the others agreed wholeheartedly.

            Remus nodded but still felt as if he was being turned inside out all the same. Sirius took one look at Remus's face and pulled him out of the room, followed by everyone except for Madame Pomfrey herself. They walked down the hall to Remus's room; that is, Sirius made sure that Remus moved enough so that they made it to the room at the far end of the hall.

            "Moony," he said quietly, about to tell him to lie down and relax for a few minutes, but Remus suddenly looked up at him and smiled.

            "Sirius!" he cried, his voice bright. "Look at me moping around, paying you no attention whatsoever – you've only just come back and, well, you alright, mate? Did anything happen to you behind the …the veil? Do you need anything?"

            "Oh," Sirius said, making a dismissive gesture. "I can tell you all about that later. But then again," he paused, looking cautiously at Remus. "I'd like to know who she is; after all, she did 'bring me back'."

            Remus took in a deep breath of air, forcing himself to calm down, forcing himself to believe that Sarah would be okay now, that she just needed to rest and catch up on all that sleep she missed.

            "Sarah Brenton." He said slowly. "Professor Dumbledore's goddaughter. She's been living here since September and since I am here most of the time, I've – well – got to know her pretty well."

            Sirius smirked, and Remus sighed, his head drooping again. "Just the two of you, here, all alone? I dare say that you've…" he trailed off when he caught sight of the pained expression on Remus's face. "Okay – so there's more to this."

            Remus was silent for so long that Sirius had to fight an urge to prod him. He knew, though, that Remus would tell him – he could see it in the way that he was nervously twisting his hands back and forth.

            "She's a muggle, you know," he began, and Sirius opened his mouth to exclaim that it wasn't possible – how had she brought him back, then? but realized that Remus was about to explain. "But she has certain non-muggle abilities… and they're not magical either… that she uses to help out the Order. I was stunned out of my mind when I found out about them." He shook his head, smiling slightly.

            Remus turned to Sirius with a wide grin momentarily on his face. "She's telepathic, and telekinetic too. Well, that made for some pretty interesting dreams that night."

            Sirius snorted. And to think everyone said that Remus was the shy one – did they have any idea how werewolves could be at certain times of the month? He grinned back at Remus, but the smile quickly faded off of the latter's face as he continued.

            "After that- we'd been friends before - but we got even closer. You know," Remus paused thoughtfully. "I have a sneaking suspicion that Bill and Charlie had a bet going on the two of us – and that they got Harry into it too."

            Sirius's head shot up. "Harry??" he asked.

            "Came to stay for a bit – he and Sarah got along splendidly. Dumbledore has...had Sarah teaching him Occlumency."

            "_Has_, Moony." Sirius corrected him. "She's alive, she'll be okay."

            Remus closed his eyes for a moment, his hands clenched tightly together. "We would have been more than friends," he said, his voice sounding constricted. "We would have, except I was an idiot, and told her it couldn't happen, that I was a wizard, and she was a muggle. God, I made her cry that day. I was awful, Padfoot, awful. Kissed her like I thought she was the only girl in the world for me – and she is!! Then I went off about how it couldn't happen, told her I didn't even like her." Remus shook his head, feeling incredibly guilty. "And then we talked it over, just this morning – we hadn't seen each other all week because of that stupid fight – and we fixed it. At least, we decided to be friends, seeing as we're from such different worlds, with such different lives. Just friends."

            Sirius looked intently at him. "Really?" he questioned. "So, that's what you want?"

            Remus's jaw clenched and he got up, pacing the room and refusing to look directly at Sirius, as if he were fighting a proven fact.

            "No!" he said vehemently, finally giving in. "I love this girl, Sirius! She's amazing – intelligent, fun, beautiful… she has so much life and now…comatose…what if she doesn't make it? What if she's not okay now? This morning – we at least had a chance – but now, even if she does wake up…" He turned to Sirius in utter frustration. "I yelled at her in front of everyone, I ignored her the rest of the time… Sirius…I…just want her to be okay. I love her, but right now – I just want her alive and well. Even if we were just friends and she lived halfway around the world and wrote now and then – I'd be happy knowing she was okay. As long as Sarah's alright, I'll be fine…"

            He sank down onto the bed, his head in his hands. Sirius patted his back, at a loss for anything remotely relevant to say. Remus had dated other girls; between the four of them, the Marauders had gone through a significant chunk of the female Hogwarts population – but none of them had ever been faced with a situation quite like this. Horrible breakups, yes, but near deaths? No, nothing like this.

            "Do you think," he ventured after a few minutes. "Do you think that…she…loves you? You were the one she called before she…fell. Not her godfather, but you."

            "I-" he began, but Dumbledore had entered the room.

            "Gentlemen." He said, his face serious.

            "Sarah." Remus jumped up. "Is she alright?"

            Dumbledore looked long and hard at Remus before replying. "Hopefully, she will be. Madame Pomfrey sent me to tell you that you can come and see her now."

            He turned and led the way back to Sarah's room, Remus and Sirius following closely behind.

            "Sarah is still unconscious." he informed them. "And we do not know when she will wake up – if she will wake up. She expanded far too much mental effort this week and her mind has gone into complete overload. If all goes well, Sarah will be able to regain control and so recover. If not…well, to be completely honest," he turned to face Remus and Sirius at the doorway to her room. "If she does not wake up within three weeks, she most likely will never wake up at all."

            He nodded to the two men before walking away, looking older and more tired than ever. Sarah was the closet Albus Dumbledore had ever had to a daughter, and should anything happen to her when he'd asked her to come back into a world she hadn't wanted to be a part of, he'd find it near impossible to forgive himself.

            "Sarah," Remus said softly to the comatose girl, holding her hand. "Sarah, you know how we talked things over that morning? Well, I was thinking, and I never told you I was sorry."

            Sarah had been unconscious for two weeks now, and Remus grew more and more despairing with each passing day. He'd taken almost immediately to sleeping in her room, should she happen to wake up one night, but she hadn't stirred. If it wasn't for the gentle sound of her breathing, he wouldn't have known she was alive.

            "Sarah, it doesn't matter that you're a muggle. That was utterly wrong of me to say, and I'm so sorry. If it came down to choosing to spend time with you or a myriad of witches, I'd take you, any day. I just hope you can forgive me for that, Sarah. You mean… oh, you mean the world to me. Do you hear that? So you can't die on me, alright?"

            Sarah gave no sign that she did hear him, but lay sleeping on her bed, her hair fanned out from around her head. With his free hand Remus played with the golden lock of hair as he looked around the room. Sarah had made it entirely hers, right from the packed bookshelf and desk on one wall to the several sketches and pictures she had up around the room. Some were works in progress – others beautifully rendered portraits and landscapes. He still marveled at her ability to capture the very emotion of the person she was drawing. Just to the right of him, on the door to her closet, was a picture of him and Harry that she'd done about a week after Harry had arrived at Grimmauld Place. Neither of them had known that she was drawing them as they had quietly talked, afraid to disturb her from whatever task she seemed to be heard at work at. She'd laughed afterwards when she'd shown them the picture, saying that they'd been the best subjects she'd drawn in a long time.

As he looked at the picture now, the sound of voices downstairs brought him back to reality and reminded him of something else. "Sarah, peaches" he smiled to himself. "You really have to wake up now. Harry's here, or Christmas, with everyone else. He doesn't know you're not awake, because we wanted to surprise him with the whole Sirius being alive thing, but if you don't wake up now, it'll all go out the window."  He looked sadly at her when she didn't move, although he'd know that she wouldn't. Kissing her forehead softly, he got up and left the room, going downstairs to Harry and the Weasleys.

            This time around Remus was the one begging for air. Harry ran at him the second he appeared at the bottom of the stairs and totally unashamedly knocked him over, hugging him tightly.

            "Air…" Remus gasped, and Harry reluctantly let go, grinning at him.

            "Hi, Remus." He said, smiling broadly at his former professor.

            "Harry!" Hermione gasped. "It's Professor Lupin! And hello, _Professor Lupin._" She said, giving Remus a much less life-threatening hug.

            "It's alright, Hermione." Remus said kindly, slipping back into his professor voice nonetheless. "I'm not your professor anymore."

            "Still feels a bit awkward." Commented Ron. "'Lo, Professor." He greeted Remus, finding himself unable to call him by his first name. Behind him stood the entire Weasley clan, including a much subdued looking Percy, Remus noted, but was glad to see him there anyway.

            "Sarah?" mouthed Bill, and Remus shook his head slightly. Unfortunately, Harry hadn't spent three weeks studying Occlumency intensively for nothing.

            "Where's Sarah?" he asked, frowning. "Is she alright? She hasn't replied to my last couple of letters."

            "Oooh, _Sarah._" Fred said, rubbing his hands together gleefully.

            "He fancies her, you know." George told Remus.

            "Oh, yeah." Said Ron, oblivious to Harry's pleading looks. "Gets all these letters from her, and always owls her back straight away."

            "I don't fancy Sarah." Harry said tiredly. "Where is she, then?" he asked Remus, but Hermione cut in before Remus could answer.

            "Harry, it's okay, you know." She told him, smiling reassuringly. "We all know, and are really excited to meet her. I'm sure she's really nice."

            Remus looked around him warily, but Harry had a determined glint in his eye again – there was no use trying to wait to tell him.  "There's was a bit of an accident a couple of weeks back, Harry." Remus told him. "Sarah did something pretty amazing…and you'll be very excited with the outcome… except she didn't really have enough strength to do it, so she's been…unconscious since then."

            Harry looked up at him in shock; he'd known something was wrong with Sarah but he'd had no idea it was so serious. Fred and George, who'd obviously been gathering steam to continue teasing Harry went very silent and serious, and Charlie said quietly,

            "There's been no change then?" Remus shook his head in the negative, unable to form the words. Harry looked at him, realizing the pain Remus must be in. He didn't know the full story between Remus and Sarah, but he knew that they both cared about each other but yet were not together.

            "I'm sorry, Remus." He said, looking Remus in the eye. Remus gave a slight nod of his head to show that he'd heard him, and then turned away for a moment.

            "She's upstairs." He told Harry, Bill and Charlie. "In her room."

            The three of them immediately bolted for upstairs, Harry taking the steps three at a time. Everyone else looked on curiously after them. Ron looked especially confused.

            "So, who is she?" he asked. "I mean – Harry looked pretty put out when you told him."

            "Well," Remus answered slowly. "Harry left school for about a month in October."

            "He WHAT?" Ron and Hermione demanded. "No he didn't!! He was right there with us the whole time!"

            Molly and Arthur Weasley looked rather sheepish. "Actually, dears," Molly said. "That was Charlie."

            "Polyjuice?" Remus added, looking intently at Hermione, who flushed furiously. "Anyway," he continued. "Sarah has been staying here since the beginning of September – she's Professor Dumbledore's muggle goddaughter."

            "Muggle??" said Arthur, looking as if his birthday and Christmas had come early all rolled into one big celebration. Remus grinned as Molly rolled her eyes, sighing and saying "Oh, honestly, Arthur."

            "Yes, Sarah's muggle. She was here while Harry came to stay, of course, and they got along really well – but then, Sarah's a really friendly person. Everyone likes her…" he trailed off, his face growing pensive again. The room was silent for a while, Fred and George whispering furiously about the implications of pranking a muggle, even if she was Professor Dumbledore's goddaughter, Arthur still looking elated, while Ginny appeared to be thinking over something furiously. Suddenly she looked rather sick.

            "Oh, eww!" Ginny cried. "That wasn't Harry, that was _my brother!!!_"

            "So?" Ron asked, confused. "It's Charlie. You've always got along well with Charlie!"

            "Yeah, Gin." Said Fred.

            "Don't you love us, Gin-gin?" George said reproachfully. "We're your brothers too!"

            Hermione, however, looked sharply at Ginny, whose face was slightly green. Remus secretly wondered what all the fuss was about until he remembered something Harry had told him while he was staying at Grimmauld Place.

            "Hey, Remus?" he had said. "She's really something else, you know. And I can't even tell Ron, because he'd probably pound me on the head about it or demand that I marry her right away. You know, do some protective older brother kind of thing."

            Remus's eyes widened and he looked at Ginny in sympathy. "Ginny," he said kindly. "Why don't you go up and see how Harry's doing."

            The girl nodded and ran quickly up the stairs. "They're in the second room on your right." Remus called up after her.

            "Well," he said, turning the people remaining at the bottom of the stairs. "Why don't we get something to eat?"

            Harry had been incredibly upset to see Sarah, but the appearance of Sirius had done wonders in dimming the pain. As Christmas approached, he, Bill, Charlie and Tonks took turns in sitting with Remus in Sarah's room. He spent the rest of his time basking in the fact that he had his godfather back. Sirius, unlike the Christmas of the year before, did not mope around but threw himself back into life with such enthusiasm that even Remus had to join in now and then.

            It so happened, on one of those occasions that Remus had been persuaded – no, coerced to leave Sarah for a while, that Arthur had discovered, much to his supreme delight, the muggle game that his wife had hidden from him; Twister.

            This in itself almost convinced Remus to leave there and then, but Sirius and Harry clamped down onto his arms and very firmly told him that with the exception of Hermione, he was the only one who knew how to play the game, and as they were competing boys against girls, they needed him desperately.

            Remus sighed but sank down into a chair anyways; he couldn't refuse Harry or Sirius alone, and the two of them together was a force to great for him to contend with. Bill, Sirius, Ron and Harry made up the boys team, with Remus coaching them and Fred and George as overenthusiastic cheerleaders. Hermione, Ginny and Tonks with Molly as a substitute made up the girls team, insisting that they didn't need _four_ people to win such an easy game. Percy, Arthur and Charlie refereed, much to the displeasure of the girls, who demanded that only Percy could be trusted to have fair judgment in such a case, and even then they said that it would be a biased game.

            Whether or not it was biased, both sides played extremely well, Ron showing a natural gracefulness that was the subject of much teasing from Fred and George for months afterwards. After the selector called out "Left hand, red!" Bill suddenly found himself upside down, looking underneath the chair that Remus was sitting in. He struggled for a moment, much to the delight of the girls, of whom only Ginny was left playing against Ron and Bill, then regained his balance. But before he was given the all clear, he caught sight of a pair of feet just behind the chair, attached to a pair of ankles, one of which was sporting a small tattoo in the shape of snowy-white tiger wrapped by the letter S.

            "Sss-sar…" he managed to say before falling over. Ginny and Hermione hooted with triumph, but Harry, Tonks and Charlie stood mesmerized, staring at the figure behind Remus.

            Remus had been watching Bill and Ron play against their little sister with a half amused smile on his face when he heard gentle footsteps coming down the hall. Freezing in his chair, he listened intently, shutting out the sounds of the game in front of him. Suddenly the sound of someone stubbing their toe floated into the room, followed by a soft "Ow! Damn!" that he would have been able to recognize anywhere. Not trusting himself to turn around, he held his breath as the person came into the room, finally coming to rest behind his chair. It was Bill's stunned stammering of her name along with the looks on Harry, Tonks and Charlie's faces that convinced him.

            Heart pounding, he got up and turned around. Sarah was standing just beside his chair now, smiling shyly at him. "Yeah, you were right." She said, blushing. "I guess I wasn't fine, hunh? How long have I been out for?"

            Sarah never really got an answer other than Remus engulfing her in a hug that told her he never ever planned to let go. She hugged him back tightly for a few minutes, then pulled away to look at his face. He was smiling at her, but there were tears on his cheeks.

            "Oh," she said quietly. "Oh, Remus. A while, then, I suppose. Oh I'm sorry, Remus, I…"

            Remus silenced her by gathering her up in his arms again. "I thought I'd never get to be with you again." He choked out. "You were – you were – I'd lost you, and I… you were…"

            Behind him, Sirius quietly shepherded everyone else out of the room, closing the door as he left to give them some privacy.

            "Well, I'm not gone," Sarah whispered, wiping his tears away. "I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere, okay? I promise, I'm staying."

            "You promise?" Remus managed to croak out.

            "I promise." Sarah said, wrapping her own arms around him and moving close to him.

            Remus closed his eyes, holding Sarah tightly against him "Sarah," he mumbled against her hair. "Sarah, I.. I...lo..." Words escaped him, but Sarah buried her face in his neck, rubbing his back softly.

            "I know, Remus." She said, her own eyes glistening. "I know."

A/N: Woohoo!!!  There it is!! In terms of words, that's the longest chapter I've ever written! And she's back!!! Remus loves Sarah!! Yes!!! Honestly, guys, I know I'm the  one writing this, but even for me, it's exciting when good stuff happens. It's like I'm watching a movie in my imagination, and I'm just writing it down how I see it happen. Hoo boy. Okay then, calming down. Did you like it?? Can you guess what they're going to do next?? Review and let me know! Love you all.

-Laren


	15. Thwarted

Disclaimer: J.K.R owns everything you recognize. Anything else – MINE!

A/N: You liked it!! Yes I know it was a sappy chap but that's not all, folks! Sarah never let Remus finish his confession, did she now? And what's this? Harry and Ginny? (Oh it had to be done, in all its cliché glory) So, now we move on, hopefully to better, happier things. Thanks for reviewing, guys!! It always wants to make me write more! (Oh and if you went to VH.net, I'm Natalie Goldman, Unsorted at the moment, so Swordsmistress, hurry up!!)

On with the Story!

Chapter 15: Thwarted

            The door to the drawing room opened and out came a very happy looking Remus, carrying an equally contented Sarah.

            "Sarah!" said Harry, thrilled at her sudden recovery.

            "Heya, Harry!" she said, letting go of Remus's neck momentarily to wave at him. "I'd give you a hug but this one here," she pretended to struggle in Remus's arms. "has decided that I am incapable of walking on my own two feet for more than a second. Mind you, last time I argued with him about my state of health he was right, so I'll let him have his way on this one." She grinned cheekily at Remus, who rolled his eyes, all the while looking supremely pleased that he had a living, breathing and very much awake Sarah in his arms.

            Sirius looked amused as he surveyed the two of them. "Well," he remarked. "You two certainly took your time in there." His suspicions were confirmed when Remus merely smirked at him.

            "Now, if you don't mind," he began to move through the small crowd of people waiting suspiciously close to the doorway. "Sarah needs to get back to bed so she can get all the rest she should have had before." Sarah snorted in protest, but made no real effort to leave the comfort of Remus's arms. Everyone moved out of their way, with the exception of Bill and Charlie, who appeared to be arguing about something at the foot of the stairs.

            "Uh…" Remus looked from one brother to the other. "Bill? Charlie?"

            The two young men suddenly seemed to recognize that they were be addressed and Charlie cut off in the middle of a "Well, just because she's up doesn't mean that-" to look embarrassedly at Remus and Sarah. "Oh, yes, of course, hello Sarah."

            "Hello to you too." Sarah said, looking for all the world like she was trying very hard not to burst out laughing.

            Remus carried her up the stairs to her room, setting her down carefully on her bed. Sarah swiped at his head.

            "I'm not going to break, you know." She laughed softly.

            Remus looked seriously at her. "You were dead, Sarah." He sat down on the bed beside her, running his hands through her hair.

            Sarah shivered slightly. "I – I'm okay now, though. I know I am. Yes, I said I was fine before, but I was just avoiding a fact. The whole time I knew I needed to rest. I was actually sneaking out so I could just curl up and sleep for a couple of weeks when you caught me." Guilt momentarily flashed across Remus's face and Sarah felt like kicking herself. "No, silly, it's not your fault. I should have just admitted that I was wrong and that would have been that."

            Remus smiled at her, but Sarah could tell that he still blamed himself for everything that had happened. "Hey, remember what you said to me when I was beating myself up about you getting shot?"

            He was puzzled for a second, then he remembered that mind-blowing day in which he'd had to fight for his life, been shot, and found out that the girl he was starting to like was a lethal fighter and a telepath to boot.  "Oh, yes," he said slowly. "That was an unforgettable day."

            "Well," Sarah snuggled up close to him. "Follow your own advice, then. It helped me out a lot."

            Remus heard what she was saying, and thought that she was, of course, right, but found it rather hard to concentrate on things like that when she was so close to him, her body pressed up against his. She began to say something else, but he leaned down and tilted her head up towards his, kissing her gently, savouring the feel of her lips as she kissed him back, smiling ever so slightly into the kiss.

            Sarah snaked an arm around his neck and Remus used his free arm to pull her fully onto his lap, her legs around him. His arm slipped from her waist to underneath the bathrobe she was wearing, gliding over the smooth skin underneath. As he pulled her even closer to him, she shifted slightly on him, causing a low growl to come from Remus. Sarah pulled away momentarily, smiling smugly down at him. "If you do that again," Remus warned her, his eyes smouldering. "I will not be held responsible for what will most certainly happen next."

            "Well, in that case…" Sarah leaned back down to kiss him again, Remus falling back against the pillows as they moved together. Sarah moaned into his mouth as his hand made its way up her body until it found her breasts. "Oh, my god, Remus…" she whispered, lifting slightly as she moved higher up on him to give him better access. Remus kissed her neck, soft, languid kisses trailing ever further south as Sarah gasped.

            "Now, now, you two," came the very smug voice of Sirius. "With the door wide open and all? Must I remind you that we have innocent children staying here and that the sight of their trusted professor in a rather compromising position with a lovely young lady might just taint that innocence?"

            Sarah sprang up with a gasp, quickly fixing her bathrobe to hide the fact that, much to Remus's delight, she was wearing absolutely nothing underneath. Remus struggled up, as Sarah was still partly on his lap, neither willing to relinquish the contact they'd had only seconds before.

            "Merlin, Padfoot, you have _horrible_ timing. Couldn't you have just done a silencing charm and closed the door?" Remus scowled furiously at Sirius.

            "Ooh, the look on your face! Sarah, my dear soon to be proxy sister-in-law…" he paused, grinning widely as both Remus and Sarah blushed profusely and protested that Sirius was being ridiculous. "Sarah, you'll soon learn that at certain times of the month – well werewolves get a little…ah…needy." Remus now went very, very red as Sarah merely smiled smugly.

            "I know." She said, laughing at the surprised expressions on the faces of both men. "What?" she asked them. "When I found out that you were a werewolf I read up on them, as I'd come across an article in the prophet that wasn't too complimentary, which totally contradicted what I'd come to know of you."

            "Aww." Said Sirius, wiping away imaginary tears. "Oh, I can just feel a sappy love moment coming on, oh, it's just too romantic!"

            "It might have been," Remus ground out. "But you certainly headed that off, didn't you? Now, if you don't mind, would you please leave and make sure any impressionable _children_ are not anywhere close by? Thanks."

            Sirius turned to leave, but then stopped. "Well, I can leave, but you're a bit late about the whole 'impressionable children' thing. Harry was the one who saw you two." He laughed at the identical looks of horror on Remus' and Sarah's faces. "You were somewhere around the point of 'Oh my god, Remus', I believe." He smirked at them one last time before leaving.

            Remus and Sarah looked at each other, horrified. "Oh, no…" Sarah buried her face in Remus' chest. "Remus, Harry? Oh, great."

            Remus shook his head, equally unsettled. "I know." He said, gently stroking her arm. Soon, however, the bathrobe began to fall open as Sarah lifted her head up to his grinning.

            "Well," she began, kissing him lightly on the neck between words. "Now…that…the…door…is…closed."

            "Oh, and one more thing…"

            Remus and Sarah were in the middle of a very passionate lip-lock when Sirius poked his head back in the door again. Sarah was the one to yell at him this time.

            "Sirius Black! I rescue you from behind the veil-" She quickly pulled Remus' robes around her upper body, which Remus had rather speedily removed from the confines of her bathrobe. "- the least you could do is to give us a little privacy? Is that too much to ask?"

            "Sorry, forgot the first time around." Sirius said, looking not in the least bit apologetic. "Moony, Dumbledore needs to see you about Order business fairly urgently. He's downstairs. And I'm not trying to pull one over on you, I of all people know how important it is to have a good -"

            "Do you mind??" Remus looked absolutely ready to kill at that point, although whether or not it was Dumbledore or Sirius he wanted to kill was anyone's guess. Sirius merely grinned at him, knowing full well that Remus was inwardly too happy to do much damage to anyone, least of all his best friend. He left the room, his laughter echoing down the hall.

            "Ugh!! Damn that man! Damn Dumbledore!!!" Remus grumbled furiously under his breath as he got up, straightening his robes. Sarah got up as well, smoothing out his now much ruffled hair.

            "Whatever," she told him. "Yes, it was bad timing, but you're forgetting that essentially, it's just you and me here alone most of the time, so…" She pulled him down to her for one more kiss, Remus holding her tightly wrapped in his arms.

            "When you go out," Sarah broke the kiss and Remus reluctantly let her go. "Could you call in Bill and the rest?"

            Remus raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to tell her she needed to rest, but then realized that they'd been about to engage in some rather un-restful activity themselves and closed it, bending down to kiss her cheek.

            "Will do, peaches." He grinned as Sarah rolled her eyes at him.

            "Oh, there is _no_ need to call me that." Sarah harrumphed, settling back against the pillows.  "So very unnecessary."

            Remus merely chuckled and left the room, stepping lightly down the stairs.

            "You're certainly in a good mood today, Remus." Dumbledore remarked. Remus opened his mouth to say that of course he was in a good mood, but then looked at the tired expression on Dumbledore's face and stopped short. _He doesn't know!!_

            "Well, sir, there's a very good reason for my excellent mood…"

            A tentative knock on the door woke Sarah from the very pleasant dream she'd been having. Groggily sitting up, she called out. "Who is it?" although it came out more along the lines of "Mmmnt?"

            "Er, Harry," came the shy response. "And Bill, and Charlie and -"

            "Oh yeah!" Sarah said, fully awake now. "Yeah, come in, I was just having a bit of a rest."

            The door opened slowly, and Harry came in, his eyes angled slightly downwards, as if he was afraid to see something he wasn't supposed to.

            "Come in, Harry." Sarah said, smiling at him. "I'm fully dressed, don't worry, Remus left a long time ago."

            Harry went very red and muttered something about "this always happens to me", but looked up nonetheless and came over, plopping himself down on the end of her bed.  Sarah looked confused at him, then remembered a similar embarrassed expression on his face the day she had left for the Dominican.

            "Oh, my …. You thought me and Remus had…. Oh…" she dissolved into laughter, and Harry looked puzzled for a second, then rather hurt.

            "Well, it wasn't too hard to get that impression." He huffed. Sarah continued to giggle randomly, and everyone else, just entering the room, was slightly alarmed at her outbursts of laughter. Ron looked to Harry, mouthing 'Is she mad?' rather obviously, so Sarah decided that she'd better calm down.

            "So," Bill said. "What's the joke, or did you hit your head when you collapsed."

            Sarah looked wickedly at Harry. "Now, Harry here, was under the much mistaken impression that - "

            "And there's really no need to tell that story, Sarah, it's all in the past." Harry said rather hurriedly.

            "Wait just a second, young Harry." George said, an expression of mock seriousness on his face.

            "Mistaken impressions? Now, that's serious business." Fred continued.

            "We don't want this to happen again, now, do we?"

            "So we'd best have it all out with now"

            "And get to the bottom of it so it never happens again."

            "Don't worry, I'm sure it was just a harmless misunderstanding."

            "I agree entirely," said Bill, joining in. Now Sarah began to blush slightly along with the already extremely red Harry.

            "No, on second thoughts, Harry's right, it's all in the past." She quickly interjected. "Now, I haven't met some of you before, I guess you already know that I'm Sarah."

            Bill and the twins looked mightily disappointed, but the latter quickly moved forwards, offering their hands rather pompously.

            "Fred Weasley, at your service." said George.

            "Nice to meet you, George." replied Sarah. "And you must be Fred." She turned to the twin in question, who was currently looking rather taken aback. Harry grinned widely. He suddenly realized that with Sarah's telepathy, she would be the only person who could tell the twins apart. They, however, recovered quickly, and deciding that it must be a fluke, retreated to the back of the room to plan how to get this new potential prank victim.

            "How'd you do that?" said Ginny breathlessly. "I can't tell them apart and I've lived with them for all my life. I'm Ginny, by the way."

            "Oh, they think differently." Sarah shrugged. "Quite distinct, really. But then, most identical twins are like that, you know. It's the fraternal ones that are near impossible to tell apart just from their minds. Nice to meet you, Ginny. Harry has – "

            "This is Ron, and Hermione," Harry quickly cut in, and Sarah grinned at him. Ginny looked curiously at them.

            "Harry has what?" she asked, looking suspiciously at Harry.

            "Oh, nothing Gin, nothing." He said quickly.

            "Hello, Sarah, I'm Hermione." Hermione introduced herself and Sarah smiled warmly up at her.

            In time, Sarah had been introduced to all the members of Harry's extended 'family', which included a nice long talk with Molly Weasley. Bill and Remus had been right; the two of them got along famously. She'd also promised Bill, Charlie and Tonks that as soon as she was better, the four of them would be going out to the nearest club. She soon became tired and Molly ordered everyone out of the room so that Sarah could get her rest.

            "You just have a nice long sleep, dear." She smiled affectionately down at Sarah; upon returning to find that the younger woman had kept Grimmauld Place in such good condition she had immediately warmed to her.

            "Thanks, Molly." Sarah sunk her head into the pillows, enjoying their comfort, but sat up again just before the older woman left the room. "Oh, and Molly? Could you tell Remus to come up here when he's finished talking to Uncle Al? Thanks!"

            Molly turned around, shaking her head but smiling nonetheless. "Oh, you two. If I tell him to come up here you definitely won't be getting any rest!"

            Sarah blushed, but protested that she knew she needed to sleep and just wanted to talk to him for a moment.

            "Oh, all right." Molly sighed good-naturedly and left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

            She had only been gone for a few minutes when the door opened again and in walked Dumbledore, followed by Remus. "Sarah!!" he greeted her, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "No, don't get up, my dear. How are you feeling?"

            "Good," Sarah smiled up at her godfather. "I'm really sorry, Uncle Al, I just, knew it would be too late if we waited, I-"

            "We're just happy you're alright, Sarah." Remus said quietly, his eyes smiling. "I have my best friend back, as well as…" he trailed off. Dumbledore was the closest thing to a parental figure Sarah had, and he wasn't exactly sure how to tell the man that he was with his goddaughter. Dumbledore, however, beamed down on the two of them, looking absolutely ecstatic.

            "Yes, I am _quite_ happy that everyone seems to be doing _so_ well." His eyes twinkled madly at the two younger people, who looked rather warily at him.

            "Alas," he said after a time. _Who says 'alas' anymore? _Sarah thought. _Honestly, this man!_ "Alas, it seems that we still have a few issues to work through. As I was saying to Remus earlier this afternoon, there is still the matter of the few Deatheaters at large."

            Sarah and Remus felt a twinge of guilt as he said this, but he continued, oblivious to their emotions. "Sarah, if you do not wish to continue, I understand."

            "What?" Sarah sat up straight. "No, I started that, and I'm not just going to walk away and leave it unfinished. Besides, it'll take you much longer to do it any other way, and they could have caused more trouble in that time. No, I'm still in."

            Remus and Dumbledore exchanged looks, but neither commented. A thought flashed into Remus's mind, unbidden. _What about afterwards?_ He thought. _What happens when she finishes that job?_

            Dumbledore seemed to be thinking the same thing – his eyes had lost some of their usual light and he was looking rather seriously at Sarah. "All the same, Sarah," he told her. "All you would have to do is to pinpoint their location. Remus and Kingsley will be leading a team to find them."

            Sarah opened her mouth to protest. She knew that she could be a valuable asset to any sort of reconnaissance mission, and once she had recovered, she didn't need protecting.

            "This  - this isn't your fight, Sarah," Remus said gently, sitting down beside her on the bed and taking her hand. Sarah, however, pulled her hand away from him, her eyes flashing angrily. "No, I know it sounds like we're shutting you out – we're not. But you have your own job, and while everything you do for us is amazing, it's wearing you down to have been doing double duty."

            Sarah bit back an angry response and sighed instead. Looking up at the two men, she shook her head. "Everyone else is pulling double duty – at their own jobs, and here in the Order. I just overdid things temporarily. I can still help!"

            Remus looked down, finding he had nothing to say – he could find no fault with Sarah's reasoning. Dumbledore, too, was silent for a moment, but then looked resolutely at Sarah, appearing to have made up his mind.

            "You definitely outreached yourself, Sarah, and for the time being, all we want to do is make sure that it doesn't happen again." Sarah looked exasperated, and Remus took her hand again, squeezing it slightly. She shot him an accusing look, but left her hand in his. If Dumbledore noticed, he gave no sign that he did. "Mr. Calahan has also been slightly concerned about you of late-"

            "Wait a minute," Sarah began, but Dumbledore held up a hand.

            "When you're a bit better, you can meet with him. I'm sure the two of you have a lot to talk about, but yes, that is none of our business. I'm simply passing on a message." Sarah was quiet, then nodded. "Well, since that is all taken care of – I must be moving on! It's amazing, really, that amount of things in this world that seem unable to happen unless someone attends to them! Remus, don't keep Sarah up too late! Have a good rest, my dear." And he promptly disapparated from the room with not even so much as a small 'pop!'.

            Remus looked down at Sarah, who had fallen back onto the pillows with a huge, dramatic sigh. "You know you'll like the time off." He said playfully, lying down beside her. Sarah turned towards time and shifted closer, letting him slip an arm around her waist. "Yeah, I will. He's right, I definitely don't want to do that again."

            "No," Remus murmured, leaning forward to kiss her gently on the lips. "No, you don't want to. Besides, you promised!"

            Sarah laughed softly. "Yeah, I promised. But now you're going to be traipsing goodness knows where. You know," she looked thoughtfully at the man lying beside her, lightly tracing the outline of his face with her finger. "I'm a telepath, so I could probably stay in contact with you the whole time without overdoing anything – mental connections like that are easy."

            "Maybe," Remus said, leaning into her touch. "But we can discuss that later, Sarah. I'm thinking sleep wouldn't be such a bad idea for me now, either."

            Sarah rolled away from him and held up the covers. "Well," she said suggestively, waggling an eyebrow. "Come on in, then."

            Remus shook his head at her, chuckling, but slipped off his robe and got into the bed nonetheless. Sarah snuggled up close to him, and Remus remembered his earlier discovery that she was wearing all of nothing underneath her bathrobe.

            "Remus?" she said after a few seconds, interrupting a rather pleasant train of thought for Remus.

            "Hm?" he replied, suddenly not feeling so very tired.

            "Did you lock the door?" came Sarah's query, sending all sorts of interesting ideas into Remus's mind. He reached for his wand, did a locking spell, and turned to Sarah, kissing her deeply. Pulling away, he grinned wolfishly down at her.

            "Any particular reason for wanting that door locked? Should I be putting silencing charms in place?" he asked her, bending down to kiss her neck.

            "Well," Sarah said, running her arms around his back. "Didn't want Harry barging in here tomorrow morning, did we?"

            "Sarah!!" Remus groaned, stopping his exploration. "Did you _have_ to bring that up?"

            Sarah laughed, smiling at Remus before bringing him down for another kiss. "But now that you mention it, I like your idea _so _much better…"

            Sirius was just rooting around in a drawer in the room next door when he heard some rather interesting sounds coming through the wall. Smirking, he put his ear to the wall, the sounds coming through only serving to confirm his suspicions. "Nice going, Moony." He said, before going out into the hall to put a silencing charm on Sarah's room.

"But please – do us a favour and remember the silencing charm next time?"

A/N: Okay people, hope you liked it, because there is more coming; the story is definitely not over yet! To my reviewers sniff oh I love you guys!! In fact, I'm actually going to give you all individual responses!! So, here goes:

**Swordsmistress**: Baby-making time is on the way, hunny, so keep your pants on!

**Aljinon**: You went to VH!! I'm so proud!! Come by my compartment!! Oh, and don't worry, that was not the end – oh god no shudder that was waaay to sappy to be the end

**Fiona**: You think so? Oh, that makes me so happy! I always think that about my stories, and then someone comes along and is all  - oh, you were so much better at first, and it's just like, oh. I thought I was better now goes and cries in a corner   but you like it! Woohoo! (Okay, I am waaaay too hyper for my own good)

**Amanda** : hehe you like the sappy chapter – it's a romance, it _so_ had to be done! I agree, Remus is a very very very sexy werewolf! Now, if Sirius was bi…. Oh, the possibilities…

Alana : Happy Belated Birthday!! I'm glad you like the story! P.S. It's my birthday really soon so I may get a tad distracted, but I will do my best to update 

Okay I think I got everyone who reviewed this time around, thanks to everyone! I will update as soon as I am able (I actually may be delayed because of the whole birthday thing and I've got this absolutely FANTASTIC and I mean BRILLIANT plot bunny floating around in my head and I may try and get that down for a bit as all the possibilities with it are just killing me!) Right, okay, all done.

-Laren


	16. First Time

Disclaimer: In the words of one fanfiction author (sorry, I don't know who it was), me no own.

A/N: I GOT OVER MY WRITER'S BLOCK!!! Wow it's been a while, but I finally did it – and you know what? It was your reviews that got me inspired. So, should I ever have another unfortunate episode of writer's block, review or email me and yell at me to get something done! It helps to know that someone out there wants to read more of my story. Also, Ladies and Gentlemen, upon checking my reviews, I was pleased to discover that   dun dun dun I have over 50 reviews!!! Woohoo!! (you know what's crazy? Some people have over a 1000!! Oh, I can only dream…) Thanks to you all, you rock my socks!! (that is, on the occasions when I am actually wearing socks, seeing as warmer weather is now on the way and all…but you guys are cool anyhow)

On with the Story!!

**Chapter 16: First time**

            Sarah stared out of the big bay window out to the elegantly laid out gardens beyond the courtyard below. The rain was pouring down outside, blending the multihued greenery into one vast watercolour. _Typical English weather, _she thought grumpily. _If I were in Canada right now, it'd at least be beautiful and sunny, despite the snow._

_Oh, yeah,_ an uninvited voice piped up. _A nice, sunny, oh-so-nippy-at-a-refreshing-minus-fifteen-degrees-WITHOUT-the-wind-chill January day. Yes, I can see it now…_Sarah frowned, then shivered. _On the other hand, maybe I'll take the rain._

A hand on her knee, however, prevented her from any further debate on the various climates of the world.

"Sarah," a kind, deep voice reverberated around the meticulously furnished oak panelled office. "Wake up, Lil' Sis."

Sarah snorted and turned to look sceptically at the man crouching down beside her. "Hello hello, Big Bro?" she returned, raising an eyebrow. Michael Callahan groaned and got up, seating himself on the window seat beside her. Taking one of her slim hands in his big ones, he sat in silence with her for a few minutes, both enjoying the steady rhythm of the rain.

"So…" he said after a while. "You need to take some time off, my girl."

"Ugh!!" Sarah exclaimed, throwing up her free hand in the air in disgust. "_Everyone_ keeps on saying that. First it was Cass, then Uncle Al, now you and not to mention Remus…" she trailed off, instantly regretting bringing Remus up.

"Oh, yeah, _Remus_." Michael grinned wickedly at her. "The fellow you fancy?"

"Michael…" Sarah sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Right, sorry, I know, you're not a little girl, this is no schoolgirl crush – your boyfriend, right?"

"Honestly, Michael, you're how old?"

"Yes, yes – wait – you didn't run off and marry him, did you?" he quickly checked her hand for any signs of a ring, and upon finding none, continued.

"All right, so he's not your fiancé either – lover, perhaps? Come one, the look on your face is way too content…"

Michael decided to stop talking; Sarah had narrowed her eyes and the murderous look in them as she glared menacingly at Michael was anything but content.

"Michael Darren Callahan!!!! Remus and I are a couple, okay? We're together, seeing each other, dating, whatever. He's my boyfriend. There. Are you happy?"

Michael smiled widely, then frowned. "Well, you do know what this means, don't you?" he grabbed both her hands and held them close to him protectively. "I shall have to have a little chat with this Mr. Remus Lupin."

Horror filled Sarah. "Oh no you won't." she quickly pulled away and got up, backing away from him. "Don't you go into full big brother mode on me now."

"What kind of big brother would I be if I didn't?" Steely grey eyes met determined honey ones. Sarah inwardly groaned.

"Half-brother, Michael." She corrected, pointing a finger at him. Suddenly the light-hearted atmosphere of the room vanished, the smile leaving Michael's face as he too got up, facing her.

"That doesn't mean I love you any less, little sister." He said stiffly. "I'm sorry if you think I don't matter as much because of that."

"No, Michael, I…"

Her protests fell on deaf ears as her brother strode across the room, opening the door and holding it for her to leave. "I'm glad to see that you've recovered, Brenton."

_Why does he have to be so moody?_ Sarah thought grumpily, her own mood plummeting. She gathered her coat and walked past him, looking straight ahead.

As she left the room, Michael grabbed her arm, pulling her back to him momentarily. "Mr. Callahan, sir…" she said, attracting the attention of some passer-by. Michael scowled but let go of her arm. "What the hell are you doing, Michael?" she hissed.

"He doesn't even know about me, does he?" he said, staring into her eyes. "And you say you love him?"

"I never said I loved him…" Sarah trailed off as Michael smirked at her.

"And has he said he loved you?"

Sarah was at a complete loss for words, feeling as if she was drowning in confusion. Remus had never actually said he loved her – she'd never let him say  it. And she'd never told him what he meant to her either.

Michael, seeing the confusion in her eyes, squeezed her arm gently, relaxing somewhat. "I guess I'll put off that talk for a while, no?" He gave her a small smile and lightly pushed the bewildered girl forward into the stream of people going by. Sarah walked on, slightly dazed, not entirely noticing where she was going until a tawny head popped out from an office to her right.

"Sarah!!" she called.

"What?" Sarah looked up, confused. "Oh, Cass, hi, what's going on?"

"How fast can you drive?"

"Legally, or illegally?" Sarah asked, grinning. Cassandra smiled back at her.

"Good stuff. Looks like you're going to have to hightail out of here – it seems that we haven't dealt with all of Nolan's colleagues just yet."

"Oh, peachy." Sarah groaned. "Do I get any backup?"

"Sorry hon, just get in that car and go. Details will come as you drive. Time is of the essence."

"Right, okay, I'm gone." Sarah blended back into the mass of people, then stepped into an inconspicuous doorway a couple of feet down the hall. Putting her receiver to her ear, she made her way quickly through the hallways of the mansion towards her car, instructions from Cass pouring in by the second. Jumping into a sleek black coupe, she fired the engine and was soon speeding away from MI5. _The sooner I get this done with,_ she thought to herself. _the sooner I can get home and deal with this whole Remus thing._ She was almost glad that he was currently away. _I need to sort this out – I can't mess this up._

Sarah quietly entered No. 12 Grimmauld Place. Stepping lightly past Mrs. Black's portrait, she slipped upstairs, sneaking her way there in fear of waking up any Order members who were currently using the Headquarters as a rest station. Capturing the Deatheaters she'd found had proved to be a rather daunting task and many a day she would come home to find someone randomly camping out in one of the rooms, or, if they were really tired, asleep at the kitchen table.

            Once in her room, she dropped her bag and shed her coat, eager to be out of the leather jumpsuit. As she peeled it off of her body, she cast her mind around the house, checking to see who was actually there. _Mmn – no, Bill left with Moody an hour ago, mmn – Remus??!! Remus??! _

            She opened her door to run down the hall to his room. Remus was supposed to be away on his mission for another week, and they'd received word that everything was going to plan. Why was he home early? _Don't question, Sarah,_ she told herself. _Just accept and enjoy_.

            Her hand was on his doorknob when she heard her name whispered from inside the room. "Sarah…" came Remus' smooth tenor, sending shivers down her back and stopping her dead in her tracks. She instantly opened her mind again, feeling for Remus. He was alone, that she knew, but he was definitely thinking about her. _And – oh – oh – Remus_… Sarah's breath came faster as the intensity of his emotions at that moment washed over her. Shakily gathering her composure, she quietly turned the doorknob, slipping inside the room without Remus noticing.

            He was standing opposite her, newer robes hanging well over his broad shoulders, staring at a point on the ground. He appeared to be in deep thought, but his face was flushed, his mouth moving as he if were silently talking to someone. Suddenly he lifted his head, his hand covering his mouth, but his eyes had closed – he didn't see her. It was Sarah's "Oh - wow - we should do _that._" that caught his attention. His eyes flew open, widening even further as he looked at the woman in front of him. In her rush to see him, Sarah had come in nothing but the underwear she was wearing underneath her jumpsuit. Even now, the silky black strap had fallen off of one shoulder, and Sarah's flushed cheeks as she ran a hand through her hair certainly caught and held Remus' entire attention.

            "Hey, you're home," she said, somewhat shyly – the intensity of his stare was unnerving her. "I missed you." She smiled tentatively at him, biting her lower lip.

            "Merlin," Remus inwardly groaned. "Do you have," he crossed the room in two steps and pulled her close to him. "any idea," he bent his head and began to place kisses all over her neck, freeing her other shoulder of its strap. "how incredibly beautiful" Sarah gasped in his arms. "you are?"

            Sarah had been told she was beautiful before, but she still blushed and buried her face in his shoulder. "Remus, I'm not really…" she murmured against him.

            Sarah's breath hot against his neck sent shivers down Remus' back. He slid his hands down her back to her bottom, pulling her up close to him as she began to kiss his neck, her hands roaming over his chest.

            "You have way too many clothes on, Remus." Sarah said, her hands freeing him of his robes. Remus groaned as he looked down and saw the numerous buttons on his shirt underneath – why on earth had he ever wanted to buy this? Suddenly, however, they seemed to all be coming undone with surprising speed, exposing his muscular chest for a very smug looking Sarah to explore.

            "What?" he asked, but then Sarah pulled him down to her and caught him in a searing kiss, their tongues thoroughly exploring each other's.

            "Remus," she said, pouting playfully. "Did you forget that I'm telekinetic as well?"

            His eyes widened; he _had _known, but now it presented itself to him in an entirely different light. A wave of pleasure erupted in him as Sarah ground her hips against his. "Oh, god," he groaned. "Sarah, oh, god, Sarah…" Picking her up, he carried her over to the bed and lowered them onto it, kissing her almost completely exposed breasts. Realizing that they had a front clasp he grinned mischievously down at her, snapping it open with a flick of his finger. Sarah arched her back, pressing herself against the man on top of her as Remus' mouth came into contact with her exposed skin.

            Sarah's head was swimming from Remus' ministrations – the house could have collapsed around them and she wouldn't have noticed – but the second his mouth left her nipple she moaned and tried to pull his head back down to her, causing Remus to chuckle. His laughter stopped, however, when he saw the raw desire in her darkened eyes, and his mouth eagerly sought hers once more.

            Very soon they were moving against each other, their cries ringing throughout the house as they showed each other just how much they meant to them. Sarah gasped and cried out as she climaxed, arching her back so that she brought Remus crashing over the edge with her.

            "Remus…" Sarah managed to breathe out once she was capable of coherent thought again. "Wow – oh my god, I … oh, Remus."

            Remus raised his head to look at her beside him, their bodies still closely entwined.  "Yeah," he said seriously, getting a giggle out of Sarah and a half-hearted swipe to his shoulder in return.

            "Well _excuse_ me Mr. Sex God Lupin!"

            Remus' face broke into a silly grin, the years seemingly falling away from his countenance as he did so. Sarah laughed with him and leaned forward, gently kissing his lips. Remus wrapped his arms around her and rolled onto his back so that she was on top of him, her hair falling around her face as she pulled away slightly to look at him.

            "What?" Remus asked her, blushing slightly under her intense gaze despite the intimacy they'd just shared.

            "I never told you." Sarah said simply, reaching up an arm to brush her hair away from her face. Remus found himself hard pressed not to reach up and pull her back down to him and make love to her all over again right that second as she sat astride him, unconsciously moving against him as she tried to get her long hair out of her face. _Who says we can't?_ Remus asked himself. _Not like we have anything else that can't wait._

            "I love you."

            Remus was in the process of reaching up to kiss her when the words fell from her lips, freezing him as he stared at her, trying to make sense of what he'd just heard. She didn't say – she couldn't – love…

            "Remus?"

            He snapped out of his daze – Sarah was looking anxiously at him, biting her lower lip.

            "You – you love me?" he asked her, incredulous.

            "Ye-Yes." Sarah responded, her voice a little shaky. "I…just want you to know that … that I do love you, I mean…I…" she stammered in her attempt to explain her words, her heart beating painfully in her chest as she waited for Remus to say something. He wasn't looking at her and dread began to creep in to her heart as he remained silent. _I know we haven't seen each other for ages, but – I guess he could have changed his mind – but…_

            Sarah was about to get up when she felt him take her hand in his, using the other to pull her back down to him for a long, soft kiss.

            "You love me." Remus said, shaking his head in disbelief, a small smile playing at his lips.

            "I love you." Sarah told him, praying he would believe her.

            "Well, that's good then." Remus looked up at her, his eyes alight.

            "Alright," Sarah nodded. "That's good that it's good."

            "It is." Remus said, a full-blown smile on his face now. Suddenly he laughed and pulled her close to him, kissing her thoroughly. Sarah looked at him questioningly as he pulled back, both attempting to catch their breath.

            "Sarah," Remus threaded his hands in her hair. "Sarah, I love you."

            "Rise and shine, Moony, it's a beautiful day!!!" Sirius yelled excitedly, thoroughly happy that Remus was home early as he bounded with seemingly endless reserves of energy into Remus' room. Instead, however, of the usual sleepy "Go to hell, Sirius" he got from a very grumpy werewolf, he was greeted with yelps and flashes of exposed skin and simultaneous "PADFOOT!!!" and "BLACK!! GET THE HELL OUT!" from Remus and Sarah, who had immediately dived underneath Remus in a rather futile attempt to cover herself up.

            Sirius grinned appreciatively at her until he caught a glimpse of the murderous look on his best friend's face and promptly scurried from the room. He briefly considered hiding, but then remembered that Remus would easily find him with all his werewolf senses. Arriving in the kitchen, he began to look for food, emptying cupboards, drawers and anything else that might contain something edible as he did so.

            By the time Remus stormed downstairs, Sirius was sitting at the table surrounded by all the food in Grimmauld Place, eating merrily away.

            Remus looked quizzically at Sirius. "What the hell??"

            Sirius's look became very solemn as he caught sight of Remus. "I'm abvmmng ah lamt mmml." He said, mouth full.

            "What?" asked Sarah, appearing from behind Remus.

            "I'm having a last meal." Remus translated, knowing Sirius well. "And by the looks of it, he's making sure he goes out well satisfied."

            Sarah rolled her eyes and began to put the food away, ignoring Sirius' mumbled protests. "Remus isn't going to kill you." She said tiredly once she finished, reaching for one of the boxes of cereal that she'd left out.

            "Oh, yes, I_ am_." Remus quickly interjected, moving threateningly towards Sirius.

            "No, you _aren't._" Sarah said, placing herself between the two men. Sirius grinned at Remus from behind Sarah, mouthing _'whipped, whipped, whipped'_ to Remus when the latter stopped his advance.

            "And you…" Sarah immediately rounded on Sirius, causing him to  speedily rethink his previous impression that Sarah was on his side. "What the hell is your problem?!? Would you so very terribly mind not ogling me like I'm a piece of meat?!!"

            _The trouble is, you're such a nice piece of meat_. Sirius thought, while outwardly nodding solemnly and beginning to apologize profusely. Remus snorted, drawing Sirius' attention to the astonishing fact that Sarah, unlike every other woman he'd ever met, was not buying one word of his 'apology'.

            "She's telepathic, mate." Remus told him, calmly sitting down beside Sarah and sliding one arm around her waist. "You can't hide anything from her."

            Sirius stared open mouthed at Sarah, who was currently grinning rather evilly at him. "I know all." She intoned before sitting down and beginning to eat the cereal she'd previously chosen.

            Sirius continued to stare at the couple for a few minutes, then decided to join in their meal – or rather – resume his feast. "So," he asked them, waggling his eyebrows. "Sleep well? Or should I say, sleep much?"

            Remus raised an eyebrow at the grinning man across from him. "Sirius," he began, setting down his spoon. "You need to get laid."

            Sirius sat up indignantly. "_I_ need to get laid? I, _Sirius Black,_ need to get laid?" he looked incredulously at Remus, who simply looked straight back at him, then at Sarah, but she was engrossed in the morning Daily Prophet. He opened his mouth to retort sarcastically that Remus was one to be talking when the realization hit him full force.

"I need to get laid." He admitted dully. Sarah looked up at him, her eyes sparkling.

"Well, next time I go out with Bill and Charlie and Tonks, you should come! You're a decent looking fellow, you should be able to pick someone up."

Sirius sat up straight once more as Remus chuckled at him. "Decent looking fellow?" he asked her, but Sarah had gone back to the Prophet, frowning deeply.

"_Decent_?" Sirius turned to Remus, eyes begging his best friend to vouch for all those years in which he had reigned supreme as 'Hogwarts' Hottest Hunk'. Remus, however, was becoming slightly worried by Sarah's concentrated quiet.

"Peaches?" he asked her quietly. "You alright?"

Sarah turned to Remus, her face white. "They found out." She said, thrusting the paper at Remus. "I don't know how, but…they did."

A very confused Remus looked down at the big black headline. _MUGGLES ATTACK WIZARDS!_ It read, on top of a picture of a scowling muggle woman being led away by ministry officials.

"I don't understand." Sirius said from behind him, all laughter gone. "How did these muggles find out about wizards?"

"I…I don't know." Sarah said, her voice shaking slightly. "Oh god, this is bad. Don't you see? If Voldemort and his Deatheaters get to them first…they can use them to kill other muggles and maybe even wizards without being implicated."

Sirius' face was pale. "So he can buy himself some time – make the wizarding public think that he's not really back, that it was all a mistake – time that he needs now that we've got all those Deatheaters locked away."

Remus looked up from the article to stare intently at Sarah. "Do you know of someone by the name of Annetta Larson?"

Sarah went even paler and snatched the paper away from Remus, scanning the article until she found the relevant part. "She was fairly high up in Nolan's circle… I have to get into work now!"

She turned around and fairly sprinted upstairs, where the two men could hear her banging around as she got ready. Within minutes she was downstairs in her uniform, coat on as she rushed to the front door. "I'll be back in an hour or two – if not, I'll make sure you know." She kissed Remus lightly on the lips.

_I want to talk to you when I get back._ She told him.

_Alright,_ he responded, finding it more than a little strange to think to her instead of talk. _Anything in particular?_

_Nothing to do with this – something else. It's not that big of a deal – I just want you to know._ Sarah smiled at him, gave him one last kiss and ran out the door, calling goodbye to both of them as she left. Remus stared slightly puzzled after her until he heard Sirius calling him.

"Moony? Moooony." Sirius said, finally settling for a simple whack to the back of Remus' head.

"Ow! Padfoot, what's your problem? Honestly!" Remus growled at him, turning back to the paper.

"So, who's this Larson woman?" Sirius asked, ignoring Remus' glare. "Someone Sarah deals with at her _secret agent _job?"

Remus rolled his eyes; Sirius absolutely loved muggle movies such as James Bond and the knowledge that Sarah was a real life agent at the real life equivalent of the movie agency was a continual source of enjoyment for him.

"Yes." He said, not bothering to elaborate that MI5 had been desperately trying to deal with Nolan and his 'circle' for several months now.

"And?" Sirius prompted.

"Like you said, she's a _secret agent_." Remus said, finishing his cereal off as he read through the rest of the article. He would have said nothing more but Sirius was giving him the hard, tell-me-right-now-you-bastard-you-bloody-well-know-that-I'm-still-stuck-in-this-hell-hole-so-I-need-to-know-something look, the look that Remus knew came about when Sirius was feeling useless due to his 'mass murderer' status.

"Look, Padfoot, Dumbledore will be by and I'm sure there'll be an Order meeting to talk it over."

"BLOODY HELL!!!" Sirius exploded as he stood up. "I'm not going to break! At least before when I was stuck here people treated me like an adult, now it's all 'oh, Sirius, are you all right? Oh, we missed you so much, now we're going to keep you on a nice soundproof display case on the mantelpiece so you don't ever have to worry about anything ever again'. WELL YOU KNOW WHAT??!! IF I DON'T WANT TO WORRY ABOUT ANYTHING EVER AGAIN THEN I NEED TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON SO I CAN DO MY PART TO STOP THAT SON-OF-A-BITCH!!!"

Remus sat back in his chair, staring wide-eyed at Sirius, who was breathing heavily as he slowly slumped back down into his chair.

"Sorry, Moony, I know, I'm just – now that everyone's gone, it's all coming back, the way I felt before, I'm trying, it's just…"

Remus felt awful as he looked at the tired figure of his best friend. Physically, Sirius was beginning to regain some of the looks and health he'd lost at Azkaban, but it was all to clear in his eyes that he still felt like a caged animal inside.

"Sirius," he said. "MI5 has been dealing with Larson's boss, Nolan, and his colleagues for months now. One of the reasons Sarah was unconscious when she pulled you out was because she'd spent the whole week without any sleep, she was so busy with work. They're supposedly rather dangerous – not too bad once you can get them out in the open, but…"

"You can't get them out in the open." Sirius finished for him. "What do muggles call them again? Terrorists?"

"Not exactly, Mr. Black, but they do present just as great a problem."

Remus and Sirius both snapped around to see Dumbledore standing in the doorway, his face sombre.

"Albus," Remus said. "I thought you'd be by soon – Sarah has gone in to work already. I take it that she'll be present at the meeting, then?"

"Yes," Dumbledore replied, seating himself at the table. "We'll be meeting at the usual time, this evening. Did she say anything else?"

"The woman they captured, Annetta Larson," Sirius spoke up. "she was involved with someone Sarah deals with at work."

Dumbledore sighed heavily and got up. "I was afraid this would happen. Harry's scar has been hurting him recently – he said that Voldemort was feeling desperate now that we've captured more Deatheaters and he has more control over his mind." Dumbledore, Remus and Sirius sat in silence for a few minutes.

"How's Harry?" Sirius asked – Harry's last owl had been over a week ago.

"Fine, but rather busy. He's been devoting himself more closely to his studies after last year. Or at least, Miss Granger has become more insistent now that they are studying for their NEWT's." A small twinkle appeared in his eyes as both Remus and Sirius were visibly relieved.

"Well, gentlemen, I must be moving on. But before I leave – there is something that needs to be done here – it'll be slightly tedious, Sirius, but it's important."

Sirius, however, looked as if he'd do the world's most boring task as long as he was doing _something_ for the Order.

"Of course, professor." he said. Dumbledore looked approvingly at him.

"In that case then, this is what needs to be done…"

A/N: FINALLY!! I finished chap 16!! pats self on the back and does a victory dance but there's still more to come!! Much, much more! So, what do you guys think?? Should I throw in a random pregnancy to spice things up? An engagement? A little HarryGinnyness? Review and let me know! (Even if you think it's stupid, review and tell me why and I'll try to make it better.)

-Laren.


	17. Things Unsaid

Disclaimer: My plot, my Sarah and company, J.K's everything else. 

A/N: lookie lookie another chapter!!! Thanks to everyone who reviewed – in this chapter I begin to reveal my brilliantly evil and diabolical plot to cause suffering and torment for our wonderful couple! Yes I know it's mean but it makes for a lovely plot twist! Anyhoo, read and hope you enjoy! 

On with the Story!

Chapter 17: Things Unsaid… 

Remus gripped his wand tightly as he and several other Order members inched around the corner, fully expecting a multitude of Deatheaters to appear, wands drawn, at any given moment. Earlier that morning he and Sirius had carefully gone through Sarah's extremely detailed notes on the mind readings of the captured Deatheaters and determined that there were several still at large, unfortunately, with the resources to recruit those in league with Nolan to their cause.

After she'd left the two men, Sarah had returned to Grimmauld Place just in time for the meeting. She'd walked in just as things were about to begin dressed in full uniform, looking tired but grimly determined as her long black jacket billowed behind her. With the exception of Remus, even those who knew about her 'talents' and job were surprised to experience her in full business mode, having only been acquainted with lively, happy Sarah. Snape had attempted to send thinly veiled insults her way during the first half of the meeting, but Sarah had turned such an unnervingly icy blue rimmed gaze on him that he quickly contented himself with glaring at the rest of the persons present.

Now she was back at work whilst Remus and several others were following up on a tip from MI5. Much to their dismay, it appeared that the Deatheaters at large had indeed managed to persuade the rogue muggles to side with them, and so Remus found himself behind Tonks as they silently crept around an abandoned property somewhere north of London.

Kingsley, who was in the lead, looked back at the others and gave them the all clear to follow him into a long, gloomy hallway that seemed to widen into a large room just around a bend. As they stepped forward, Remus felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He considered shrugging it off but it only grew stronger with each step he took and he found himself fighting an irresistibly strong urge to turn and apparate out of their as soon as humanly possible.

"Tonks!" he whispered, his pulse starting to race as the sense of danger grew stronger. "Tonks!!"

"Shhh! Lupin!" Moody poked Remus rather sharply in the back with his wand. "Shut up!! Constant vigilance!"

"I know!" Remus hissed back, trying to keep his voice down; the last thing he wanted to do was to attract any lurking Deatheaters. "That's why we need to leave and get more back up now! Something's wrong – I can _feel_ it."

Moody regarded the younger man sharply, as did Tonks and a couple other members who were close by. They knew all too well that Remus' werewolf instincts were always an accurate indicator of the situation at large.

"Shacklebolt!!" he hissed to the tall, muscular man steadily approaching the bend in the hallway.

"Kings!" Tonks began to move up to her fellow Auror. "Kingsley, we need to get out of here now! Remus is right – there's only eight of us – I really don't like this."

No sooner had Tonks spoken than a bolt of red light shot out into the hallway, hitting Kingsley, who'd turned his head to reply to Tonks, square in the chest. Tonks and Moody rushed forward, pulling Kingsley back whilst Remus and the others cast blocking spells before moving forward. Moody looked up at them, surveying the room ahead with his magical eye at the same time as nodding towards Kingsley.

"Just a stunner," he whispered. "He'll be fine in a sec."

Moody looked at the room ahead for several seconds more before nodding to Remus and Tonks, who went cautiously ahead, well aware that it could only be one Deatheater or several. Seeing nothing, they went further into the room, wands drawn, followed by the rest of their group. Remus was so on edge by now that he had to fight to stay put – his hand was trembling as he held his wand. The room, however, gave no indication of containing a multitude of Deatheaters, so they assumed that the spell caster had run off into where the hallway continued, at the opposite end of the room. Tonks turned around and indicated that it was all right to follow, moving back to help Moody with Kingsley.

The second that the last of them had stepped into the room, Remus knew, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that they had walked straight into a very obvious and simple trap. Within moments he saw that out of the shadows had emerged several looming black robed figures, the dim light hinting of more behind them.

"Oh look, it's Dumbledore's little toy followers, all come to get us!"

Shivers ran down Remus' back as the cold, haughty voice of the woman in front of him disturbed the eerie silence, followed by a grating murmur of snickers and stifled mocking laughter from around the room. Their eyes finally adjusting to the light in their new surroundings, most of the Order members took a step back closer into each other as they saw that they were completely encircled by a good twenty or so Deatheaters.

Remus, however, overcame his earlier trepidation to hold his wand tighter, now pointed directly at the heart of the woman standing before him.

"Yes," he told her, in a calm, indifferent voice. "Actually, we _have _come to get you. Although I'm sure it would be much easier for all of us if you just came along quietly, now."

In the depths of the woman's hood he could just make out two glittering eyes and saw the white of her teeth as she smiled, clearly amused. From behind him he heard Moody start to curse to no end and his heart began to fill with dread as her yellow eyes gleamed maliciously at him.

"Ah, I see that old Mad-eye there has realized what you, with all your _keen_ senses, have not. I must admit I'm disappointed, Mr. Lupin. My master has high hopes for werewolves, and if you're any indication of their abilities…" she broke off to sigh theatrically. Remus wondered whom on earth she was that she knew him – he didn't recognize that voice, or those eyes, for that matter. "I really would have thought that you'd have picked up on it by now."

_And she knows who Moody is! Well, she should – he was an Auror for years – but how does she know me? What I am?_

Remus was desperately trying to ascertain her identity when she swiftly melted back into the shadows, her fellow Deatheaters doing the same seconds afterwards. Confused, he and the others looked around them, uncertain as to what was going on. Remus held his breath – the silence did not seem to bode well for them – and was justified in his train of thought when at least forty or so men and women stepped up to where the Deatheaters had been only moments before. His breath caught in his throat as he looked around at them – each carrying a very dangerous looking gun, it plain to see that these were no wizards, but muggles.

"Oh Merlin." He heard Tonks gasp behind him, and found he was thinking exactly the same thing. They might be wizards, but they were far outnumbered by the Deatheaters alone. Remus felt his heart plummet – he knew all too well that these muggle had considerable skill when it came to hand to hand combat, let alone with the vast amounts of weapons they were carrying. It was almost inevitable that if a Deatheater didn't get them, a bullet would.

Remus felt as if the room was spinning around him. He didn't know had he had failed to pick up on all the muggles before, but now, with the full moon near, his senses were running on overload. For a split second he could hear every breath, every heartbeat, every little sound roared in his ears and the edges of his vision began to go slightly grey.

He felt himself sway slightly and somewhere, as if it was way off in the distance, he heard a snivelling, grating voice say something offensive followed by the cold, derisive laughter of the yellow-eyed woman. Suddenly, before he could fall, Moody's gnarled hand was at his back, steadying him.

"Easy, there, my boy. Keep your head up, now."

All of a sudden a Deatheater to their right decided that the fun in stretching things out was over (A/N: Actually, the evilly grinning author decided that the fun in tormenting our poor little Order members was over – for now…MUAHAHAHAHAHA!) and raised his wand, the arc of his arm as it rose up seeming to take an eternity to Remus.

_Sarah, I love you_, he thought desperately. _I don't know if you're hearing this now or as an echo but I love you, I love you so much and I'm…I'm sorry I didn't get to see you again._

He began to close his eyes but as he did so an image of Sarah fighting in the street that eventful day in October flashed through his consciousness. She fought with everything she had, measured, but yet wild, as if she was determined to give whomever she was fighting absolute hell to pay. His resolve tightening, he snapped open his eyes and turned to the Deatheater so fast that they took a step back, clearly caught off guard. _If I go down, so do you_, he snarled mentally, preparing to fight.

_That's the spirit!_ Sarah's cheerful voice resounded in his head, just as the Deatheater's head turned to the side, his hood falling back as he did so to reveal eyes wide with shock and confusion.

Remus soon saw why – several jumpsuit clad men and women had seemingly appeared from nowhere, apparently having performed the impossible task of getting past numerous wards the Deatheaters had set up around the property. The gun-toting muggles immediately in front of the small group of Order members were temporarily distracted as the newcomers simply barged in, not bothering to waste time talking as they took them down 4 or 5 at a time.

"Expelliarmus!" Remus yelled, gathering his wits together as he took advantage of the confusion before him. Whilst he and the other had been just as stunned as the others, they knew the identity of the newcomers, unlike the Deatheaters around them, most of whom found themselves rather quickly disarmed.

Very soon they were heavily engaged with the Deatheaters who were still armed, curses, hexes and bullets flying across the room. Despite the fact that he was continually ducking and rolling out of the way to safety, it didn't take very long before he and others had taken care of the remaining Deatheaters and had turned back into the fray, which was now mostly hand to hand combat with the opposing muggles. Remus found himself very grateful that he'd just returned from a mission and was therefore still in shape – he found himself ducking and retreating a lot more than when he'd been duelling. Both he and Tonks found themselves forced to resort to their wands, whereas Kingsley's sheer physical size allowed him to overpower many without the aid of magic.

Remus had just dropped to the ground, pulling Tonks along with him to avoid a stray bullet that had been headed in their direction. He was just about to straighten up when he caught sight of a flash of golden hair amidst a long, chestnut braid. His heart stopped momentarily as he saw Sarah whirl about and seemingly defy gravity as she rose into the air, catching one man in the head with her spiked boot – _how does she fight in those?_ Remus wondered – as she flipped over backwards to deliver knockout blows to two others before landing like a cat and springing up to meet the next. Remus had to shake his head and rub his eyes in disbelief despite the fact that he'd seen her fight before. He saw Kingsley suck in air as his eyes, too, nearly popped out of their sockets. "Wha…" his mouth hung open in astonishment.

"Kings, behind you!" Tonks yelled, and the two of them turned and sprung back into action, firing off stunners at rapid speeds. Within due time most of their opponents were down, Tonks just finishing off by stunning a muggle who'd been aiming a gun at Moody's back. ­_Not like Moody couldn't see him_, Remus inwardly grinned to himself. He looked around the room, stopping when he caught sight of a once more astonished looking Kingsley and followed his gaze to where Sarah and a tall man Remus recognized as Michael Callahan back to back, shielding and supporting each other as they quickly fought their way through a remaining circle of about six or so muggles.

Sarah had just leaped spectacularly off of Michael's shoulders to bring down the last muggle when several more Order members appeared, wands out. Remus rushed over to Sarah's side as Moody and Tonks began to berate them for arriving just when they'd finally finished taking care of things.

"How – how did you know, how'd you get in?" they hugged each other tightly, ignoring Moody's booming tones of "FAILING TO PREPARE IS PREPARING TO FAIL!!! CONSTANT VIGILANCE! _CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!_ DO YOU IDIOTS KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS???!!!" as he rather conveniently ignored the fact that he'd been part of a group that had let its guard down so far as to walk into a very obviously laid trap.

Sarah pulled back to look quizzically at Remus. "What do you think? You think so loud, Remus, I could be across an ocean and I'd still hear you." She laughed slightly at the confused and mildly offended expression on Remus' face. "Don't worry, that's a good thing!" She laughed again at Remus' visible relief but quickly grew solemn as Michael approached them.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said stiffly, as if he would have normally not bothered to apologize to them at all. Remus and Sarah released each other reluctantly, Remus wondering at the defiant look on Sarah's face as if she was daring Michael to make something of the fact that she'd been hugging Remus. _He clearly knows about us,_ Remus thought, glancing sideways at Sarah.

"Brenton," he said shortly. Remus was puzzled – Michael's voice held both extreme coolness and yet extreme warmth in it towards Sarah. He could feel her tense beside him and slid an arm around her waist, reassuringly rubbing her back. "Mr…Lupin, yes?"

Michael held a hand out to Sarah, forcing him to remove his arm from around her to shake it as he nodded affirmatively.

"Mr. Callahan," Remus returned, slipping his arm back around Sarah's waist. "I'd say it's good to see you, but under these circumstances…"

Michael nodded sagely, some of the stiffness leaving his attitude. A deep look of consternation crossed Sarah's face as she surveyed the people lying on the floor.

"I only found these people because we've dealt with some of them before; I could feel their minds." She answered Remus' earlier question. "This…so many of them, sent to deal with so few of you, it makes me wonder how many more they have. Mich…" she began, trailing off at the sight of a rather cross looking Moody marching determinedly up to them, closely followed by Tonks and several other members.

"Hello." Moody growled, not sounding in the least bit friendly as he thrust himself into the conversation.

"Moody, Tonks, Kingsley…" Remus called out the names of the Order members standing around them. "This is Sarah's boss at MI5, Michael Callahan. Mr. Callahan, these are some of the Order's members."

Michael nodded towards them, his stiff attitude returning as Moody lifted up his hat to reveal his magical eye, surveying both Michael and Sarah with alarming intensity. Remus became mildly concerned – it wouldn't do for anyone at MI5 to be offended by the Order, seeing as they'd just saved their lives.

"Callahan?" Moody grumped out before Remus or anyone else had the chance to step in and steer the conversation away from dangerous grounds. He looked closely at them again. "You're a Brenton, lass … but you look ... aren't you related?"

Tonks gave a nervous laugh. "Moody, that's their business – and you can be related without having the same last name!"

"Don't try and patronize me, young un'," Moody had turned rather threateningly back to Tonks, who didn't look in the least bit afraid. "Anyone can see that they're at least cousins."

Smirking at the young Auror with a look of triumph, he turned back in time to see, as did everyone else, the identical looks of shock on both Michael and Sarah's faces before they simultaneously regained their composure and looked identically indifferent once more. Remus' grip on Sarah's waist loosened slightly as he looked at them, unnerved by the obvious similarity.

"How…" Michael began, gesturing as if it were no big deal but he was merely curious, but a tawny haired MI5 agent on the other side of the room perked up her head and looked sharply at them.

"That _would_ explain a lot." Her voice came cool and clear across the room. Michael closed his eyes, apparently trying to keep his own cool, and Sarah clenched her fists slightly.

"_Cassandra_." Sarah hissed quietly, not bothering to turn around, but Remus saw the woman visibly blanch and turn away.

"How?" Moody chuckled, clearly enjoying himself. "Well after seeing you fight a bit – you've got identical mannerisms, lass – and then there's that little bit just now."

Remus let go of Sarah's waist to look questioningly at her. With what Moody was saying and Sarah and Michael's reactions, it was beginning to sound like they were closely related – but Sarah had told him that she had no close relatives alive other than her grandparents in the Dominican. _I said I had to talk to you later, didn't I?_ Sarah's voice came, sounding apologetic, but she didn't look at him.

"Half-brother and sister." She said shortly, clearly indicating that the topic was no longer open for any sort of discussion. "Well, we clearly need to take care of this mess," she gestured around the room. "And I'm sure there are several meetings that need to be held." She turned away momentarily, talking to a fellow agent before turning back to Remus and the others. Michael took the opportunity to tell Moody that he had enjoyed meeting him and slip away, giving Sarah a look that clearly said she should follow, to which Sarah merely looked supremely unconcerned.

"I have to go with all my people for a bit." She informed the small group, but looked directly at Remus. Everyone around them suddenly remembered a rather important and pressing issue to take care of and took several steps back, leaving Remus and Sarah alone in one corner of the room. Sarah found she couldn't meet Remus' eyes, which were boring into her, their intensity unnerving. "Remus," she whispered, reaching for his hand.

"You have a brother?" his voice was confused, but Sarah could hear the undertones of accusation in it and her head quickly snapped up, her own eyes losing their warmth. "I thought you said that the only family you had left were your…"

"My grandparents, yes, I know, I said that." Sarah found herself growing angry at the tone of Remus' voice. She was tired and annoyed that she hadn't had the chance to tell him of her own volition. "Look, Remus – we're both tired – can we talk about this later?"

"So you lied?" Remus asked her, now grabbing the hand that she had been reaching for him with before. " You never said anything about a brother…"

"Half!" Sarah hissed, surprising herself with the ice in her voice. Remus stepped back slightly, surprised. He was bewildered as to why she wouldn't have told him – as to why she never even mentioned the possible existence of such a relative. It wasn't as if she had said, "Oh, I do have a half-brother, but I don't really talk about him" – she'd specifically said that she had no other family. It was clear, though, that they got along fairly well – worked together, even – so why hadn't she told him?

Sarah looked up at him; her eyes now strangely dull, as if she was desperately trying to block out some painful emotion. Remus felt his heart soften and released his death grip on her wrist. "Later," she choked out and turned away, trying to avoid his eyes.

"Sarah," Remus gently said, gathering her up into his arms before she could completely walk away. "Sarah, love, what's going on?"

"I…" Sarah began, her voice muffled from her face being buried into his shoulder. "I was…" her shoulder's heaved with a silent sob and Remus wrapped his arms around her tightly, rubbing her back encouragingly.

"Remus – I should have told you - "

"_Brenton_!" Michael's voice came clear across the room and Sarah instinctively stiffened in Remus' arms. She suddenly pulled away, rubbing her eyes slightly and straightened herself up before looking up at Remus, her eyes completely devoid of emotion.

"Peaches," Remus began, still holding onto her hand. Sarah gave him a small smile that didn't even begin to presume to reach her eyes and softly pulled her hand away.

"Later, Remus. I promise, I will tell you – just, later." Sarah's voice had become hard, edgy, and unmistakeably the voice of someone who would really rather be someplace else. Upon seeing that Remus was not replying, she quickly reached up and gave him a small peck on the cheek that felt completely meaningless before walking off to join Michael.

Remus stared after her, confused and feeling utterly miserable at her rather cool dismissal.

"Hey, Remus," Tonks put a comforting hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his melancholy daze. "Let's get out of here, okay?"

Remus slowly nodded and reluctantly turned away, glancing back every now and then over his shoulder to where Sarah stood beside her half-brother. Out of the corner of his eye he could her looking back at him now and then, quickly glancing away each time she thought he caught her looking. Just as he was about to apparate back to headquarters he saw her staring at him, her eyes cheerless. _I'm sorry, Remus,_ he heard. _I should have told you…please, don't be upset about it._

Remus landed back in the hallway at Grimmauld Place, her voice still echoing in his mind. _But I'm not – I mean, I was, but it's alright, Sarah._

He could almost hear Sarah cringe in his mind. _But it's not alright, Remus. Don't you understand? It's not about my brother. It's someone else._

Remus walked heavily upstairs to his room, Sarah's last words ringing in his mind. He stared at his bed, still messy from their activities the night before. _It's okay, Remus – she loves you, she said so, _he told himself, trying to convince himself that her last words did not mean what he feared them to. _But she's lied to you before,_ another, harsher voice popped into his head. _How do you know she isn't lying to you now?_

He shook his head, desperately trying to ignore that train of thought as he undressed for bed. As his head hit the pillow, he saw a long, silky strand of chestnut hair lying on it. _Sarah, I love you, I love you so much – please, please don't be lying about your feelings for me._ There was no response in his mind, but as his eyes closed and his breathing fell into the regular rhythm of sleep, he felt as if he could hear someone else crying.

Back in her office at MI5, Sarah sat opposite her brother, holding a crumpled photograph in her hand. "It wasn't your fault, little sister," he told her, holding one of her shaking hands in his. "I'm sorry if I ever blamed you."

"I know," Sarah replied, her voice unsteady. "But I'll never forgive myself if Remus gets hurt too."

A/N: hooboy! So who's that someone else?? First person to get the closest guess to who the mysterious 'someone else' is gets a character named after them! And there will be some H/G ness coming up in future chappies, but right now it's all about Remus and Sarah! So, review and lemme know what you think. Criticism is most welcome!


	18. Are Often Things We'd Rather Have Stayed...

Disclaimer: Anything/Anyone you do not recognize is mine; anything else, J.K.R's.

A/N: aaaand I'm back! Well, I've actually been back for a while as I was writing Summer at the Vale (which is getting funnier, I hope) but now I'm going to get back to my first baby, Chem for Werewolves! Yes!! I know, I'm awful, leaving it where I did, but I really hope that you all are still reading it. So, with that said, here it is!! (Oh, and for those who wanted a bit of Harry/Ginnyness? Here it is, although I bet it's not the way you expected – for some background, check out Summer at the Vale, my other story)

On with the Story!

Chapter 18: Are Often Things We'd Rather Have Stayed Unsaid… 

Ginny Weasley walked into the Gryffindor common room, her hazel eyes quickly scanning the room for any sign of messy black hair. Finding none, she settled for striding over to a head full of frizzy brown hair instead.

"Hey." She collapsed into a seat opposite Hermione, who looked up from the various pieces of parchment surrounding her to smile at the tired looking younger girl.

"Ginny!" she exclaimed – then frowned upon closer inspection. "Ginny – you look terrible! Have you been sleeping lately?"

Ginny smiled wryly, and then shook her head. "Thanks, Hermione, I was just absolutely dying for someone to tell me how very awful I looked." Hermione blushed furiously and began to apologize but Ginny continued. "No, I know, you're right. And, well, I have been sleeping – but…" she paused and looked around the common room, her hands fidgeting with anything in reach. "things have been rough lately."

Hermione looked sympathetically at Ginny, but also slightly confused. "I'm sorry to hear that, Gin." She said. "But – I mean, I thought…that everything was going alright. You know, with Percy no longer being a git, and you and Harry are…closer, right?"

The response she got, however, was far from the one she expected. Ginny shook her head in disgust and threw her hands up in the air, clearly frustrated. "That's just it, Hermione, we're _closer_, but I'm not – we're not exactly together! And before, you know, we were just friends, so I didn't ask about certain things, but…"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at the redhead before standing up and offering her hand to Ginny. "Why don't we go up to my room, Gin – no one else is there right now."

Ginny gratefully accepted and soon the two were comfortably installed on Hermione's bed, where she gestured for Ginny to continue.

"Hermione," Ginny began, fiddling with the edges of her skirt. "Hermione, do you know anything about where Harry stayed this summer? I mean, I know that he wasn't at the Dursleys, so…"

Hermione eyed the younger girl warily, not knowing how much Ginny was supposed to know. "Well," she spoke slowly and deliberately. "I know that he was at some kind of safe house."

"What, all alone?"

"No, well, I don't know. I assumed there was someone there with him, of course." Hermione looked intently at Ginny. "Sorry, Gin, but I don't think I see where you're going with this so far."

Ginny merely sighed and stretched out on Hermione's bed, burying her face into the pillow for a few moments. Suddenly she sat up, her back straight. "You know Sarah? Well, she taught dance during the summers when she was younger, and she kept in touch with some of her students. In fact, there's one in particular – an Emily Gould – who she's apparently still very close to."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at Ginny. "Alright." She said, giving the other girl a long look. "Other than the fact that I'm still confused about how this involves Harry, how did you find out about this girl?"

Ginny looked frustrated – evidently she'd expected Hermione to catch on much faster. "Well, you know how Harry and Sarah are pretty close. At Christmas I kind of walked in on a conversation they were having, and they mentioned her several times. Harry saw me, of course, otherwise I wouldn't have asked, but when I did he told me that she was a former student of Sarah's."

Now Ginny could practically see the wheels turning in Hermione's head. "But how does Harry know her, then, and why were they talking about her?"

"That's exactly it, Hermione." Ginny nodded, but her lips were drawn into a thin line. "When I came in, Harry was saying how much he missed her, as well as how strange it was not to be able to see her whenever he wanted. Then Sarah said that Harry's reaction was completely normal, as they'd been living together all summer. Harry…he totally agreed with her, and then said that… that he'd go absolutely nuts if anything happened to her, as she was so _incredibly_ important to him…Hermione, do you see what I'm saying?? He bloody well sounds like he's absolutely in love with this girl!! And he spent a whole summer with her! In the same house! How am I supposed to compete with that?!"

Hermione stared at Ginny in shock. Slowly, however, the shock was replaced by a thoughtful expression. "Well, that would explain why he's not so dense when it comes to girls, anymore. I mean, normally, it would have taken him years to realize you fancied him."

Ginny, however, looked furious. "Hermione!" she cried, bringing her fist down on the bed. "That is not the point!"

"Oh! Yes." Hermione quickly snapped out of her reverie. "Sorry, Gin. But really, now, he obviously hasn't seen her for months - and as I'm sure they are _just friends_ Gin – it is only natural for him to miss her. I mean, I miss Harry terribly during the summer time, and I'm not in the slightest bit interested in him that way."

Ginny had opened her mouth to continue, but Hermione's calming words seemed to have the desired effect on her and she closed it again, harrumphing quietly to herself. "Gin," Hermione said kindly. "Why don't you go and talk to Harry about it? I know you're upset because he didn't tell you he knew her…" Ginny looked away angrily and was ready to launch into another tirade when Hermione continued. "But we're probably not supposed to know that this girl even exists, let alone that Harry spent a summer with her."

Ginny stared at Hermione for a moment before getting up off of the bed. "Where are you going?" Hermione called, more than a little disconcerted.

"I need to talk to Harry!" Ginny called back, already heading down the stairs to the common room. Arriving at the bottom, however, she stopped short. Harry was standing before her, his eyes seemingly locked onto hers.

"Gin," he said softly. "Parvati and Lavender said that you were talking about me; that you seemed upset."

Ginny bit her lip – now that Harry was right in front of her, his gaze never wavering, she felt a lot less confidence than she had only seconds earlier. "Uh…" she stammered. Harry continued to stare at her for a few more seconds; Ginny swore that he knew exactly what she was thinking. Suddenly he gave her a small smile and dropped his eyes. Taking her hand in his he lead her over to a darker corner of the common room.

"Alright, Gin." He said, once they were seated out of hearing range from any of the students. "So you want to know about Emily."

Remus frantically paced the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, much to the amusement and/or alarm of various Order members. Tonks was staring at him warily, muttering every now and then to the amused Bill about how Remus was supposed to be the calm one, while Sirius regarded him with a huge grin on his face, agreeing with Bill, who, despite Tonks' sour sentiments, was of the opinion that Remus was thoroughly and irrevocably head over heels for Sarah. Eventually Snape strode into the kitchen, his robes attempting to billow out behind him but failing miserably as the doorway was simply much too small for any such 'theatrics' as Sirius took great delight in calling them.

"Honestly, Lupin, are you trying your best to wear a hole through the floor? It's bad enough that we have to use this derelict old place; so please, do us all a favour and at least refrain from destroying it altogether."

"_Shut up, Snivellus!_"

Silence fell in the kitchen as the snarled words resounded through the room. Everyone was stunned into silence – no one had _ever_ heard Remus refer to Snape in such a manner. Unlike Sirius, he'd always tried to be polite, but it now seemed as if something was eating at him to the point that he couldn't have cared less.

After his initial shock, Snape composed himself before swooping out of the room, his robes swishing around him as he quickly exited. Sirius was the first to recover, a look of absolute glee on his face as he got up, hand outstretched so as to congratulate Remus.

"Well done!" he exclaimed, beaming widely. "That was incredible…I mean…or…I could shut up too?"

He backed away slowly – the same murderous glare that had sent Snape scuttling away was now being turned on him in all its glory. "Sorry, Remus." He said quietly, tentatively putting a hand on Remus' shoulder. His friend merely looked at him before leaving the room himself, the room eerily silent in his departure.

Sirius stared around at everyone, who were all looking at him in utter disbelief. "Whooboy!" he said, stretching his face into a horribly fake grin. "Must be that time of the month, no?"

Sarah slipped quietly into Remus' room, trying her best not to wake him as she got into the bed, but the ever-alert werewolf was awake and had his arms around her in seconds.

"Sarah!" she could just make out his face, smiling at her in the darkness. "Sarah, sweetheart, are you alright? It's been over a day – I was beginning to think something had happened!"

Sarah relaxed as she felt Remus' arms encircling her waist. Snuggling close to him, she allowed herself to fall back with him onto the bed. "Things got busy…" she explained, lightly kissing his neck. "I'm so sorry; I wanted to get back here earlier, but…oh, everything is such a mess."

Remus grinned wolfishly in the dark. "Well, let's take your mind off of everything, then."

"Oh, Remus, I don't know…" Sarah's protests very quickly faded away as (A/N: it's eleven-eleven! Make a wish!) Remus' hands found their way underneath the rather small t-shirt that Sarah was wearing to what lay beneath it, which was, much to their mutual delight, nothing but bare skin. "Oh, god, Remus, yes…oh…"

Remus growled low in his throat as Sarah began her own exploration, her hands venturing ever lower. "This is in the way." He mumbled against her stomach as he pulled off her shirt and brought her closer to him. Sarah slid an arm around his neck and pulled her head down to hers to place a searing kiss on his lips, the intensity of it surprising both of them. Remus' mind was reeling as Sarah teased his lower lip, sucking and nibbling on it until he very willingly opened his mouth. He unconsciously settled himself between her hips, instinctively moving his crotch against hers as their tongues battled each other. Suddenly Sarah shot up, pushing Remus off of her as she jumped off of the bed and fairly ran to the other side of the room.

"I can't do this." She said, frantically searching in the dark for her shirt. "Remus, I'm so sorry, I can't…he…I don't know why it's bothering me now, but I can't…" She sank to the floor and began to cry, huge gut-wrenching sobs that immediately spurred the very shocked Remus into action.

"Peaches," he said softly. "Sarah, it's okay. Everything is okay." He gathered the sobbing girl into his arms and rocked her gently, saying comforting nothings until the torrent of tears finally ceased and they simply lay together on the bed. Remus, propped on one elbow, was looking down at Sarah's naked body, gently wiping the tears from her cheeks when she spoke again.

"I know I lied to you." she said, in a halting, scared voice. "My brother and I haven't always had the best of relationships. I didn't know him until about 3 years ago, when I joined MI5. I was pretty much fresh out of school at the time, not entirely sure of what I wanted in life, except for one, very definite, very big thing. I was going to marry Nathan Goldman."

At this, Remus, who had been softly stroking her cheek, stopped abruptly, his whole body stiffening. Sarah attempted to ignore this and continue, but fresh tears began to course down her face. "And…he introduced me to his best friend, ever since childhood, a man named Michael Calahan. It didn't take us long to realize that Michael and I were half-brother and sister. Nathan was so happy – he'd always invite Michael and his girlfriend on double-dates with us – he thought it was the greatest thing."

Sarah closed her eyes for a moment, not wanting to see the cool, stony expression that had come over Remus' face. "You know the next part. Michael recruited me for MI5. This, however, did not suit Nathan at all. It didn't matter to him that he was already an agent, or that he knew that I was capable of it – he was absolutely furious. But…I had to do it. I needed to do something with my life – and working at MI5 was the perfect opportunity. One day, when Nathan and I were fighting, he said that he didn't think he could handle having a wife who worked at MI5. I was so angry – I dumped him on the spot. Our wedding was only 4 months away – but I cancelled everything. We didn't talk for a while, but I joined nonetheless. Nathan was heartbroken…oh god I was so bad to him…but I was too proud to say I was wrong, that I still…loved him. Eventually he put on a brave face and settled for being friends – and we were, for the first little bit while I was at the agency. Then…"

Sarah's voice broke, and sobs came forth once more. This time, however, Remus found himself unable to move to her. He merely watched her, feeling numb, as if he was just a spectator and it wasn't really his Sarah that was telling him all these things. After a time, Sarah seemed to have got herself under control, and now she sat up to look directly at him, her eyes dry but full of pain that had never been dealt with.

"Then we went out on our first mission, and like I told you, I brought his body back. He made a simple mistake – but it cost him his life – and I wasn't good enough to save it. I loved him, oh, I loved him – and I watched him die." She looked down, playing with her hands in her lap. "Michael and I were only just getting to know each other at the time, but Nathan was his childhood best friend. He never said it out loud, but I know he blamed me. He still does, a bit, but we're getting past it. Except, more as friends. I know he's my brother, and I care about him, but when I think about him other than in the capacity of being my boss…I've moved on Remus, I really have. And… I love you. I love you so much, and I want to be with you…but it still hurts. It's not usually like this, but the memories just came flooding back and oh god I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you. I just…" she paused slightly before continuing. "I didn't want to remember."

Sarah tentatively took Remus' hands in hers. When he didn't pull away, she gave him a small smile and leaned forward to kiss him. As she kissed him, though, he made absolutely no move to kiss her back. Sarah felt much like she was kissing an inanimate object. After one last kiss, she pulled back to look at him. Remus stared back at her, his eyes clouded with an unreadable expression. "I love you," Sarah said earnestly, willing him to believe it. "I love you, Remus Lupin. You are the most important part of my life. Please, don't hate me. I _love_ you."

She watched Remus for a few seconds, and when he made no move, she smiled tentatively at him. Slowly, however, his expression grew stony, and he shook his head at her. Sarah's world shattered into a million pieces.

"No?" she asked, her voice tremulous despite her efforts to remain calm. "I understand, then. I deserve as much for not telling you." she gave him another half smile. "I do love you. But…no, I understand. I'm mostly finished my work for the Order, anyway. After this latest issue is cleared up, I'll be gone." She got up, located her shirt and pulled it on. She had almost made her way to the door when she stopped and walked back over to him, bending down close and kissing his cheek. "Thank you, Remus." She said softly. Her hand was at the doorknob when his voice stopped her.

"What for?"

"For.. at least loving me, even though I've never been completely honest with you. You're a wonderful man, Remus. You deserve someone better than me." She gave him one last sad half smile before turning and slipping out of the room into the hall.

Left alone in the darkness, Remus Lupin bent his head and cried.

A/N: _I'm_ crying. Oh, I don't know why I do this to myself. Or to all of you, I'm truly sorry, but that's just where the story went. It's not the end, though, so we'll see what happens. Sorry that it's so short, and that it's been such a long wait. Hope you liked it.

-Laren


	19. Dead Betrayal

Disclaimer: Sarah and the gang are mine, _CLEARLY_ everything else belongs to Rowling

A/N: well!! It has most definitely been quite a while. I'm really really sorry about that, but I honestly just have not had the time to write, let alone even go on I hope you like this chapter, though, but if you're expecting sunshine and daisies, I strongly warn you that this chapter is NOT all happy go lucky. However, having said that, I say, keep hope!! Who knows – it may yet work out in the end for our troubled couple! Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to **Blue Ducky**, who writes very good stories and seeing their review in my inbox this morning was the reason why I really hustled and got this out and posted for you all to read. – Laren

On with the Story!

Chapter 19: Dead Betrayal 

"Sleep well, Sarah?" Sirius smirked at the young woman as she stumbled into the kitchen, sleep still written all over her face. "Or should I have said, sleep _much_?"

Sirius grinned wickedly at her, only to have the smile wiped off his face when Sarah looked straight at him, her eyes tired and dead. "Go check on Remus, Black." She told him, sitting down with a clunk at the table. "I was stupid and we broke up." Sirius gaped at Sarah, who was quite calmly pouring herself a glass of water. When he didn't move, she continued, in a horrible, monotone voice that grated at every one of his nerves.

"Go on, then...you know how he is – he'll mope up there for days if someone doesn't make sure he's all right. I'd go, but seeing as I'm the reason he's like that, well..." She smiled at him, but it didn't reach her eyes, and without saying anything more took her glass of water and left the room. Sirius stared after her, still in shock, before clenching his fists tightly and going in search of her. Halfway out of the kitchen, he paused, realizing that getting Sarah back for whatever 'stupid' thing she'd done could wait, and instead bolted up the stairs to see Remus.

Abandoning his usual time-honoured tradition of simply barging into a room without any prior warning, he stopped before the door and knocked on it, waiting for some response from inside. "Come in, Padfoot." Remus' voice called, sounding both somewhat amused and surprised. Sirius furrowed his brow at hearing his friend's tone of voice – did Sarah not just say that they had broken up?

Stepping inside the room, he carefully walked over to Remus, who looked rather puzzled at Sirius' expression of concern. "Moony," he began, knowing that it would be better for Remus to tell him on his own. "So, everything's...all right, with you, then?" The second the words left his mouth, however, he mentally kicked himself – he couldn't possibly have been anymore obvious unless he'd said that he'd heard about the break up.

Remus, however, looked somewhat relieved. "Oh, so, Sarah told you then? Well, yes, she and I are over."

"Remus..." Sirius began, not knowing what to say. He thought it had been hard enough when Sarah had 'died' – no, this was much, much worse. Remus was clearly in denial. "Remus, look, I know you're upset... it's all right."

A brief look of intense pain flashed in Remus' eyes, but it was gone so quickly that if Sirius had not heard his voice crack slightly when he spoke he would not have known it had happened. "She – well, still had some issues to sort out, and we came to an agreement that it would be better if we were not together."

Sirius eyed him suspiciously. "But Sarah...said...hang on – so – are you on a break? Just taking some time off from each other?"

Remus eyed him levelly. "In case you didn't notice, Sirius, Sarah and I weren't really together long enough to even qualify for a 'break'." He smiled wryly. "Padfoot, we just have too much baggage to deal with a relationship right now – and I don't know if we'll ever have one in the future."

Sirius sank down onto Remus' bed, trying to fit his mind around the new developments that had been presented to him. "But..."

"I'm fine, Padfoot. Yes, I'm not the happiest man in the world right now, but I can get past this. Besides, there are much more important things to worry about – there's a very evil wizard who is out to conquer the world, remember? Come on, I'm starving, maybe Molly will make her pancakes."

Remus strode through the door, only turning around when it became clear that Sirius wasn't moving. "Padfoot?" he said, looking worried. "_Pancakes,_ Sirius. Molly's _pancakes_."

"Ah, yes, right, on my way." Sirius replied, his brain shifting back into gear. If Remus said he was fine, then he was fine. But he couldn't get Sarah's dead, monotone voice out of his head, nor the pain that had flashed through Remus' eyes. _This is not right,_ he thought. _No, this is wrong._

Remus sat down heavily in the large room in Grimmauld Place that served as the meeting place for the Order. It had been a long day, what with evading Sirius' questions, Sirius, and then Sarah herself. _This cannot get any worse,_ he thought, before mentally slapping himself as Sarah walked into the room. Bill, who had been sitting beside Remus, grinned at her and moved over so that the seat between the two men was available. "Hey, Sarah, me and Remus saved you a seat."

Sarah looked rather puzzled for a moment, her confusion deepening when Remus quickly began to stammer that Sarah could sit anywhere she liked. Bill looked strangely at them. "Well, it's pretty full in here," he noted, gesturing around the rather crowded room. "Unless you want to sit on the floor, well..."

Sarah shook her head and smiled gratefully at Bill. "No, thank you, I'll sit here."

Remus stiffened as she sat down beside him, inwardly cringing when he saw how careful she was not to touch him at all as she did so.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, both listening to the general chatter going on around them and hoping that the other would say something first. Remus slowly clenched and unclenched his fist, willing himself not to show any emotion. He'd been blatantly resolute in his decision the previous night, when Sarah had tearfully begged him to forgive and forget, and Remus Lupin was a stubborn man. No matter how much it was killing him inside that he couldn't turn to her and see her smile at him, that he couldn't just turn to her and say that he loved her even though he wanted to, he couldn't forget what she'd told him. As far as he was concerned, he now knew only one thing; Sarah was still in love with another man, who'd died before they could be totally reconciled but she had loved so much she had planned on spending the rest of her life with him.

_But that's over, Remus, you said it yourself, I loved him. Past tense. Now I love you._ Remus' head snapped around to stare at Sarah, who was blushing deeply and staring intently down at her hands.

"I'm so sorry," she mumbled. "I didn't mean to – I couldn't help it." She looked up at him, her eyes quickly dropping back to her hands when she encountered his. "Sorry, Remus." She tried again, her voice stronger this time. "I...uh... well..."

Remus couldn't help himself; despite the fact that Sarah seemed to be pulling herself together, he could see that a breakdown was imminent and quickly gathered one of her hands in his. "It's all right," he said, his voice heavy. "You told me ages ago that it was hard for you to ignore – don't worry about it. Just – maybe we shouldn't be around each other so much anymore." Sarah nodded, her eyes visibly brimming with tears. "_Sarah,_" Remus sighed, and then wrapped an arm around her body, pulling her close as she buried her face in his shoulder. Behind her, Bill looked at him, concerned.

"Everything okay?" he mouthed, looking worriedly at Sarah, who was quite obviously crying. Remus nodded to him, thankful that they were in a darker corner of the room. After a while, Sarah stopped sniffling, and pulled away, her eyes and nose red from the tears.

"Thank you." she whispered; the room had begun to quiet down in anticipation of the start of the meeting. Remus squeezed her hand gently, then reached inside a pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, offering it to her. "Oh, _thank you_" Sarah smiled at him, wiping away the remaining tears. Suddenly she leaned back into him and kissed him on the cheek before moving away from him entirely. Remus sat back in shock, feeling his skin tingle at the place her lips had been. Taking deep breaths to calm himself, he turned to her, but she was already talking rather animatedly to Bill about just how long it would take for Charlie and Tonks to come to their senses about each other. Disappointed, he looked up, only to find both Dumbledore and Sirius staring at him rather intently from across the room. Sirius looked at him, frowning deeply, and Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, the twinkle gone from his eyes as he looked at the younger man. Blushing slightly, Remus shook his head at them, and the two thankfully turned their attention to other matters, Dumbledore calling the meeting to order.

Remus was infinitely grateful by the time it was over, quickly escaping to the sanctuary of his small room. Dumbledore wanted him to try and contact some of the other werewolves again, and he was leaving for the continent in a couple of week's time. _And by that date, Sarah will be gone. _ At the meeting, Sarah had reported, much to the vast relief of everyone present, that after the ambush of earlier that week, MI5 had managed to either round up or place a tracker on the majority of the remaining muggles who had allied themselves with Voldemort's forces. The sheer numbers that Voldemort had recruited within such a seemingly short period of time, however, was devastating, and therefore while it was still necessary for the Order and MI5 to remain in contact, Sarah was being rather quickly recalled in order to help control the situation from that perspective. _It's...it's good that she'll be gone, then._ Remus told himself. _Make things a lot easier in the long run_. Sighing, he shed his clothes and climbed into bed. _And I don't wish that she was here beside me right now_, he thought. _I really don't._

"So, Sarah."

It wasn't friendly, nor did it leave any room for anything other than an explanation. Sarah slowly looked up from her book to see Sirius standing in the doorway of her room, his arms folded against his chest as he glared at her. She smirked at him.

"Remus won't be mad at me, so you will?"

Sirius' glare turned decidedly murderous. "You're lucky he's too nice for his own good."

Sarah rolled her eyes and turned away from him, clearly bent on ignoring him. The whole situation was tearing her apart inside as it was; she was in absolutely no mood to be nice to anyone right at that second. _If he knows what's good for him, he'll leave right now._

Unfortunately, this was not the case – instead, Sirius strode across the room in about three steps and yanked the book out of her hands, forcing Sarah to look angrily up at him.

"What the hell is your problem, Black?" she yelled at him, clearly furious. "What do you think you're doing?"

"How could you do that to him!!" Sirius snarled at her. "So you have some 'issues' to sort out, hunh?"

"Yes!" Sarah replied, angry beyond belief. "Black, this is none of your effing business, okay? Just get the hell out of my room."

"It's _my fucking house_!!!" Sirius grabbed her roughly by the arm. "And Remus is my best friend so it damn well is my business!" He would have said more, but Sarah, seeing red from Sirius' assault on her arm, used her free one to shove him halfway across the room, where he stumbled against her bed and nearly hit his head on the wooden post of it. This didn't deter him, though, as he was up in a flash and back in front of her, although keeping a respectable distance between himself and her clenched fists.

"You have issues – so you break his heart and tell him that sorry, you just need some 'time', is that it?"

Sarah calmed down for a moment once she heard Sirius' accusations. "Is that what you think? Do you even know what happened?"

"I know enough!" Sirius yelled, advancing on her yet again. "I've seen it happen tonnes of times with girls that were always so nice, so perfect – but yet when it comes to him being a werewolf – even if they _say_ they're okay with it, eventually, they run from him. _Every time, Sarah!!!_ Do you have any idea what that does to him?"

Sarah, however, had gone very white, except for two small dots of red that showed in her cheeks. Slowly, she stalked forward, her entire body almost shaking with anger. "_You fucking idiot._" She said, her voice horribly calm and emotionless. Sirius started, unconsciously moving back to get away from the energy he felt crackling in the air around her.

"You utter, blithering idiot." Sarah's voice suddenly got very, very sharp, and Sirius became very aware that a wrong move now would cost him a lot more than a shove.

"No, Sirius, my 'issues' aren't with him being a werewolf. In fact, I've dealt with my issues; but when someone that you loved dies, no matter how much you've moved on, it'll always hurt a little bit. Don't tell me you don't know that."

Sirius was at a complete loss for words. This conversation was taking an entirely different turn from what he'd been expecting. Suddenly, the air was no longer crackling with anger, but heavy with sorrow, and he felt oppressed, so much that he had to fight an urge to run out of the room as fast as he possibly could. Sarah's voice had lost every hint of sharpness and instead was now so full of regret that Sirius winced as she spoke.

"No, Remus couldn't handle the fact that I was engaged before I met him – would have been married if he hadn't died – and that I never told him any of this until I told him about my half-brother. Whom, he _also _didn't know about; so I don't blame him, really. So, like I said...I've dealt with my issues. It's Remus who hasn't; Remus is the one you should be talking to. He doesn't care that I love him now...I don't think that I mean anything to him anymore."

Sirius stared open-mouthed at Sarah for a few minutes before finally managing to pull himself together. "I ...I didn't know."

"No, you didn't. But hey – I understand why Remus doesn't want to be with me anymore, so...could you just keep things quiet? I know Remus would want that." She smiled slightly at him. "Oh, and, sorry about shoving you. I hope you didn't hurt yourself too badly."

"No-no, I'm fine. And yes, I'll keep quiet. I'm sorry about...you know."

Sarah quirked an eyebrow at him. "Already forgotten. But, if you don't mind, I'm trying to keep from having a complete breakdown again over the whole thing, so I'd rather be by myself right now."

Sirius nodded, apologized once more and left the room. Halfway down the hall, he abruptly did an about-turn and walked right back into Sarah's room, barging right in and engulfing Sarah in a massive hug. Caught off guard, Sarah was stiff in his arms until she finally relaxed and the tears burst forth, her shoulders heaving as she cried over her broken heart.

Groaning with annoyance, Remus groggily tumbled out of bed, determined to fund the culprit responsible for preventing him from sleeping. From the sounds of it, Sirius was yelling at someone, although he couldn't tell who. _Probably Snape,_ he thought, shaking his head in exasperation. _The two of them will never grow up._ Padding softly down the hall, he followed Sirius' scent until he stopped in front of Sarah's room. Confusion fast setting in, he peered inside the room, hoping that Sirius wasn't saying anything stupid. _Oh, no,_ he thought. _He's probably pulling his 'must protect moony' stance on her right now._

His heart stopped, however, when he saw Sarah in Sirius's arms, her own tightly wrapped around his waist as she obviously cried into his chest. Every now and then he heard her mumble things like "Its over... I messed everything up." and Sirius supply soothing words back, all the while holding her tightly to him. Remus stared dumbfounded at the two of them, absolutely rooted to the spot, no matter how much he wanted to move. Suddenly Sarah's voice came again, tearful and shaky.

"And look how you hated me! Everyone will... I'll lose every friend I made here...I was right, I don't belong here."

"No, Sarah, don't say that...look, I'm right here, aren't I? Even if everyone else is stupid and for some unknown reason cease to like you, which is totally ridiculous in itself because in case you haven't noticed, they _all love you –_ oh, Sarah, sweetheart, no, don't cry."

Sirius' mentioning of the word love had spurred Sarah back into tears, her head buried in his chest once more. "Sarah, I'll still be here, I promise. I don't hate you. How could I? I owe you my life, remember? I actually _have_ to be nice to you."

The light jest had its desired effect, as Sarah stopped crying and looked up into Sirius' eyes, smiling slightly. "oh, and you'd better not forget it!"

Remus' heart constricted as Sirius grinned at Sarah and gently led her over to the bed. Slowly, he eased back into the hall, turning to go back to his room and wishing that he hadn't seen what he did. He stopped dead in his tracks, however, at the sound of Sarah's words.

"Sirius – don't...go. I mean, not just yet."

He could almost hear Sirius' sharp intake of air as he stopped and asked her, "You...you want me to stay?"

Remus held his breath, hoping against hope that Sarah was not going to say what he thought she was. For a while, nothing came, when he heard Sirius' footsteps, he exhaled in relief;_ which was ridiculous,_ he told himself. _I broke up with her – what do I care?_ Then, to his horror, he heard the rustling of covers, and then, silence. Remus sank slowly to the ground as he finally heard Sarah's voice, shaky, but resolute in its decision.

"I want you to stay."

A/N: Yes like? No like? What do YOU think happened there with Sarah and Sirius? And where will they all go from there? I'm currently taking a major poll here, and at least five people have to review for me to update and decide. So let me know – Do they get back together, or do they break up? Its up to you!!! so review! - Laren


	20. Moving on is a lot easier than people th...

Ah, all ye of little faith, to thee I say….DID YOU REALLY THINK I'D LET THEM DO THAT TO REMUS????!!! HOW COULD I WHEN I LOVE HIM SO?!

Ahem.

Seriously, though, your reviews were…inspiring. Since I'd gone over a month without posting, I in no way expected for all of you to respond the way you did. This chapter is dedicated to **MissMoony16**, whose wonderful review was so impassioned that I came up with the next chapter pretty much there and then.

**Chapter 20: **Moving on is a lot easier than people think…first you put one foot forward, than another on – and before you know it…Presto! You've moved on.

"Mphmmgthmg" Remus mumbled incoherently as he felt someone shaking him rather violently by the arm. Cracking open a rather reluctant eyelid, he was more than a little bit confused to be confronted with a mass of red, red, and more red - _Wait – red…I know that, its… _"Molly!" he managed to exclaim, despite his stupor. "Oh, Molly – what…what's going on?"

"Really, I don't know what's got into you all lately. First Sarah and I have to levitate Sirius into bed – can you imagine, the poor dear fell asleep in a chair – he'll have a horrible crick in his neck when he gets up…and now you in the hallway…what is this world coming to? For goodness' sakes, why can't you children sleep in a bed like normal people? Honestly!"

Remus attempted to smile at the annoyed woman, but his tired muscles were not quite up to speed with his brain and ended up grimacing at her instead. "Ahh," he groaned, stretching his painfully cramped body out to its full length before slowly getting up.

"That's right, then!" Molly brandished a towel at him. "Now, off with you! I have to clean this hallway." She scowled ferociously at him for a few seconds more before the irritation fell away and was replaced with a look of concern.

"Remus, dear," she began, much less vehemently than only moments before. "Are you feeling all right? The full moon isn't for a while, is it?"

Remus winced inwardly but smiled at the older woman all the same. "I'm fine, Molly, but thank you for asking. I suppose it's simply the effects of sleeping on the floor."

"Well, if you say so," she eyed him warily, obviously not entirely convinced. "Oh, and before I forget, Sarah was asking after you earlier on – I think she's downstairs in the kitchen."

Remus stopped dead in his tracks, opening his mouth to ask if he had heard correctly, but Molly had already disappeared off down the hallway, peering into empty rooms and mumbling softly under her breath about 'children'. _Sarah_ was asking for him? Shaking his head slightly, he managed to stumble rather ungracefully towards the stairs, trying to sort through the events of the last twenty-four hours in his head. Sarah crying during the Order meeting…Sirius yelling at Sarah…he fumbled down the stairs, making his way into the kitchen without banging into too many objects. Sarah was sitting at the table, her head down and her hands around a steaming mug. Sirius staying the night with her … his breath quickened, and Sarah stared up at him, surprised.

"Remus," she half grinned. "Oh – I didn't mean to wake you up, or anything…I just wanted to make sure that you were alright….before I left this afternoon. I just wanted to make sure that you'd be around when I left so I could say goodbye." She looked shyly at him, a look of concern also coming across her face.

"I'm fine," Remus told her before she could ask. "I fell asleep in an uncomfortable position last night."

"Ah, of course." Sarah bent towards her hot drink once again. "Sirius and I stayed up late talking last night…and he did the same thing, fell asleep…"

_In a chair…_ Remus recalled. Suddenly Molly's voice echoed through his mind. _Really, I don't know what's got into you all lately. First Sarah and I have to levitate Sirius into bed – can you imagine, the poor dear fell asleep in a chair – he'll have a horrible crick in his neck when he gets up…and now you in the hallway…_

Remus felt rather foolish, a red flush creeping up his neck as he realized that all his despair over his supposed 'betrayal' by the two people he loved most was all for nothing. He remained rooted to the spot for the next few minutes, totally unaware of Sarah's queries as to his state of health. Suddenly, however, she was standing right in front of him, her eyes wide and concerned as she peered into his face.

"Remus, its not funny! Remus? Are you even listening to me?"

Snapping out of his stupor, Remus looked down at her and saw nothing but her lips, slightly moist and red from the hot drink now forgotten _in favour of me…_ he though smugly, and, doing the only thing he could think of, kissed her. Taken completely aback, Sarah didn't respond, but her mouth formed a perfect 'o' of surprise against his and Remus took this as an opportunity to push the kiss further. He had just pulled Sarah close to him when his brain kicked into gear and he quickly pulled away, thoroughly disconcerted and rather embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," he said, trying his hardest not to look at her. _What on earth is going on?_ He questioned himself. _That felt like…like I was back in school, and kissing a girl I liked for the first time._ Sarah was looking up at him, rather puzzled.

"Hang on…" she said, with the look of someone who attempting to work out a complex problem in their head. "Didn't we break up?"

"Yeah, we did." Remus replied after a moment, still trying to sort out the multitude of emotions running through him.

"Right, and...didn't _you_ break up with _me_?"

Remus let this run around in his mind for a few minutes before agreeing with her. "You know, I did. But I don't understand…I didn't mean to kiss you…I mean…"

Sarah looked momentarily crestfallen at his words, but quickly recovered as she thought them over, and amused smirk growing on her face. "Damn," she said, pouting her _red, delicious, luscious – stop it, Remus!_ lips at him. "I should have told you about Nathan first thing in the morning instead."

Remus' mind, which had previously been a fog of emotions, suddenly cleared and the world appeared crystal clear. Sarah's joking expression disappeared as she saw his darken considerably. "Yeah, I should have just told you before. I know."

"That would have been…preferable." Remus told her, his voice frosty. Sarah frowned at him.

"Look, Remus, yes, we just broke up. Yes, I was stupid, and yes, it's all my fault. And while I'd like for us to be friends, I understand that you probably don't want to be around me right now. But I'll be gone by tomorrow. There's no need to treat me like I'm a stupid child – or to yank me around emotionally like…that…when you know I still want to be with you. Honestly, maybe it's good thing we're not together anymore."

Sarah was outright glaring at him now, her hands on her hips and her lips curled up in disgust. "Really, you were supposed to be the older, mature one in our relationship. What – now that we've broken up its okay for you to be such a child?"

Remus stared angrily back at her. "Are you listening to yourself?" he asked her, stepping closer to her. " 'such a child?'" he snorted. "You think it's mature to take out your feelings on me by trying to belittle me?"

"Belittle you?" Sarah repeated, quickly approaching furious. _"Belittling you??_"

"Yes!" Remus stared relentlessly at her. "Or should I say, putting me down to make yourself feel better about not telling me? Putting me down so you don't have to face the fact that you messed up?". As he talked, his voice grew louder and louder, reason seemingly escaping him; Sarah grew angrier by the second.

"_SHUT UP!!" _Sarah yelled at him, tears leaking out of the corner of her eyes. _"JUST SHUT UP!"_

"Nice, very smooth," Remus sarcastically responded. "How very…grownup of you."

Both were so caught up in their anger that neither noticed the small crowd that had gathered at the bottom of the stairs behind Remus. Molly, Sirius, Tonks, and Percy Weasley were all staring at the two of them, horror-struck.

_No, Moony, you're ruining everything…_ Sirius groaned, feeling helpless as he watched the two spiral further down into biting insults and hurtful comments. He only snapped back into action when her heard his name said.

"And then you, and Sirius, last night?" Remus was looming over the much smaller Sarah, whose tears were running freely as she still stood her ground. "With my own best friend…and only a night after we break up! You're right – it's such a _blessing _that I'm no longer stuck with _you._"

"_Remus_!" Sirius snarled, coming in between the two of them. "Remus, you idiot! Shut up!"

The damage, however, had already been done. Sarah stared fiercely back at Remus, her fist clenched into fists so tight her knuckles were white. "I _hate_ you." she said, her voice quiet but carrying across the silent kitchen. "I _hate _you. I wish I'd never come here or met you. You're right, you know, I did mess up. My mistake was in ever being even remotely involved with you in the first place. Ugh…how could I have been _so_ _stupid_??"

Turning on her heel, she abruptly whirled around and left the room. Remus stared at the spot where she'd been standing in absolute shock, his mind only just catching up with his mouth as he realized what he'd just said to her, and what she had replied. "No," he said, in disbelief. "No, no, she can't…"

"Oh, she _does_, and I would too, if I were her." Sirius drawled. Remus turned to meet the stormy blue gaze of his friend, flinching slightly from its intensity. "Thanks lot, by the way. Wonderful to know just how little you trust me." He too, turned away and began to walk out of the room. "Oh, and Remus?" he added from the foot of the stairs. Remus looked up slowly, his mouth still opening and closing as he was trying to figure out how he'd ever said the things he did to Sarah.

"Yes, Sirius?" he answered, his voice slightly shaky.

"When you finally realize just how much of a colossal idiot you've been and want Sarah back, don't ask me for help. In fact, don't count on any support from me – I hope she stays far, far away from you."

Remus nodded his head dully. _She hates me,_ he thought. _She actually_ hates_ me_. Mind reeling, he went over every little thing that he'd done or possibly done wrong. _No chance,_ he told himself. _That was it. Could've been friends, but…it's all completely ruined._ _Mind you, she did her part too – Nathan Goldman! Almost wish he was alive…but then she'd probably go straight back to him, wouldn't she? _His mind went round and round in circles, wallowing in misery and self-pity so deeply that he didn't even notice that everyone else had silently left the kitchen. It took Sirius' re-entry into the room to get his attention.

"Moony," he said, his voice rather gruff. "Moony, you're a right arse, you know that?"

Remus looked up at him, his eyes confused. "But I don't _want_ to get back together with her! How could I ever compete with this Nathan? He's dead – the man can do no more wrong – and all she's going to remember is that when he died, she loved him and never got the chance to tell him so! I'd always be in second place!! I can't…we can't…"

Sirius sat down heavily in the table beside him. Somewhere in the back of Remus' swirling consciousness, he noted that he'd managed to sit down himself somewhere in the last hour or so. "Beautiful girl, Sarah." The animagus stated.

"Absolutely."

"Great legs."

"I'm already a believer." Remus shot back.

"Fabulous sense of humour."

"Did you know that the twins are considering naming a line of their products after her?"

"Intelligent, too. Can actually put up with all your book nonsense."

Remus glared at his friend. "I do prefer to shag someone with a brain, thank you very much."

"Nah," Sirius dismissed this. "Then you get all attached – and messes like… you and WonderLegs happen."

Remus stared for a second, then nodded in agreement. "Hell, yes." He turned to look quizzically at Sirius. "WonderLegs?"

"Hey – I missed out on the section where you had fancied this girl but thought you could never get her. You know – remember Curly? And Ooh, _Samantha_!!"

Remus chuckled softly as Sirius sniggered. Whenever anyone amongst the Marauders liked a girl, said young woman was almost always nicknamed by Sirius within a matter of days. 'Curly' had been a curly-haired Hufflepuff brunette that Peter had been madly in love with, whilst 'Ooh, _Samantha_!!' had been one half of a pair of best friends that Sirius had steadfastly pursued all through his days at Hogwarts after seeing them in a heated lip-lock while on a dare.

"So, now that you're going through the 'I-really-really-really-want-her-but-definitely-can't-have-her' all over again, I think that she should be appropriately named. Plus, Sarah really has got fabulous legs."

"Very easy on the eyes, Sarah's legs." Remus sagely agreed, simply choosing to ignore _or was there simply no point in disagreeing with the truth?_ Sirius's comment about his wanting Sarah back.

"You fucked up royally, Moony." Sirius patted Remus' back. "Completely messed it all up."

"Thanks," Remus dryly responded. "I can always count on you to cheer me up, Padfoot."

"Hey, no sweat." Sirius grinned at him. "You'd be lost without me, you know."

"I do." Remus replied. "I was, for a time."

Silence reigned in the dimly lit room as the two men sat back and absorbed the words just said. Suddenly Sirius transformed and leapt at Remus, slobbering all over him in the process.

"PADFOOT!!!" Remus yelled, shoving the large black dog off of him. Sirius transformed back into a man, smiling sheepishly at him.

"I felt the moment called for an expression of brotherly love," he explained. "And I couldn't just have leaned over and hugged you, could I?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Yes, you could've." He sighed, before looking almost shyly at Sirius. "Not so mad at me anymore, then?"

"No, I couldn't be…you were always horrible when it came to relationships and girls…seeing as you didn't have James' and my _expertise_…"

Remus sat back down in his chair, shaking his head. "Typical," he muttered.

"Therefore you were bound to be a complete idiot and screw everything up sooner or later."

"You know what?" Sirius suddenly snorted with laughter. "You actually manage to get back together with Sarah…and then actually get serious with her… and I'll dance with Snivellus at your wedding."

Remus nearly choked on thin air as a great burst of laughter bubbled up from within. "Dance…with…_Snape?!"_

Sirius looked as he regretted ever uttering the words, but then leaned back confidently in his chair. "Like I said, though, it'll probably never happen, so don't get any ideas."

Remus managed to contain his laughter for long enough for him to sink momentarily back into his depressed state to agree with the sad fact that he'd permanently lost Sarah. The image of Sirius dancing with Snape was far too much for him to handle and he collapsed with helpless laughter. "I'm holding you to that, Padfoot," he gasped out, ignoring his logical brain telling him that it would never happen. "I'm holding you to that."

A/N: Yes, I know it was a shortie, but the next chapter is coming soon!! ( and I actually mean it this time, as I actually have time to write as well as gasp no writer's block!!! And, the next chapter may very well be the last (depending on how long it is), but if it isn't, there should only be about one more after that one. So please review and tell me how you think it was…any constructive criticism is much appreciated!!

-Laren.


	21. Developments

Disclaimer: (I've been forgetting this!) I own Sarah, Michael, Nolan, all those people, yes, and the plot. Anything you recognize, quite sadly, is _not_ mine, but J.K. Rowling's

A/N: Alrighty, all, here's the very last chapter…yes, you heard me – the last one!! However, there will be an epilogue, so don't get too worried by the ending. This particular chapter is dedicated to **cesa** – I know exactly what you mean about not always reviewing! I have to admit I often find myself in the same boat – so the fact that you did review really meant a lot to me! In fact, everyone's reviews mean a lot to me – it's great to know that you're reading and hopefully enjoying my story!! But for now, do enjoy the latest and longest instalment of Chemistry for Werewolves, 101!

On with the Story!

**Chapter 21: Developments**

Harry sighed as he lay down. He'd had a hard day – nothing had gone quite right for him in any of his classes, resulting in several assignments and one detention – and then he'd received word from Sarah that Emily had been in a small car accident. Later on he'd found out that she was actually okay, but his obviously deep concern over a girl he'd sworn that he had no feelings for was clearly making Ginny more than a little bit uncomfortable. _Ugh, Gin, we went over this…_ he grumbled to himself. Ron wasn't being any help, as he was of the opinion that if Ginny was upset, Harry was in the wrong.

Groaning into his pillow, Harry closed his eyes, glad for the sleep that played around the edges of his consciousness. Strangely enough, though, it never completely overwhelmed him, held at bay by the nagging feeling that he had forgotten something important.

"Oh, shit!" he sat bolt upright. _Don't want to go there, now – drifting off without clearing my mind…not a good idea._ Feeling grateful that he'd caught himself in time, Harry closed his eyes, beginning his nightly ritual.

A few minutes later, however, they shot open, bright, startling green glowing eerily in the dark room. "Oh, no…" he said, slightly in shock.

"Shaddup, Harry, some of us are trying to sleep here…" Ron groaned grumpily, whilst Seamus settled for throwing a pillow at Harry's head. This, however, was exactly what Harry needed - the impact the pillow had startled him back into action and within seconds he had shot out of the room, racing as his life depended on it.

Very soon, the now panting teenager rushed to a halt in front of the stone gargoyle, calling out the name of every sweet he could think of. On his seventh try, it moved aside, and he quickly ran up the steps, not bothering to knock as he burst into Dumbledore's office.

"Professor!" he gasped out, staggering over to a chair. "Professor – Deatheaters…attack…on…"

Dumbledore, who had been in the midst of reading some official looking documents looked sharply up at him before quickly reaching inside his desk to say something into a small triangular object. "Mr. Potter?" he asked, the absence of twinkle in his eye betraying his otherwise calm and serene voice. Harry, however, seemed to be too out of breath to complete whatever he was trying to say.

"Attack…Grim…Grimmau…"

Dumbledore did not need Harry to finish the sentence, but rose to his feet and headed straight for the door, pausing only to look seriously back at Harry, who was lying exhausted on a chair. "Thank you, Harry. I must impress upon you, however, the utter importance of you remaining where you are until either I or a member of the Order returns."

Harry, too tired from his mad dash to do anything other than agree merely nodded his head. As Dumbledore left the room, he let his head droop on to the arm of the rather comfortable chair. Now, sleep was finally taking over.

* * *

Many miles away from the castle in Scotland, Remus Lupin, who had previously been trying to fall asleep with no success whatsoever, also sat bolt upright in bed. Frowning, he listened carefully, not moving. His keen ears picked up Sirius' snoring, Molly and Arthur's light whispering, and Moody's paranoid mutterings. Above him he made out that the other Order members were most probably asleep, or very close to it. Below, however, he heard mutterings – and smelt scents that he knew were not any he previously recognized. Heart thumping, he apparated to Moody's room.

"Quick, Alastor, look downstairs, will you? I think there are-"

"_Deatheaters!!_" Moody exclaimed, causing Remus to shush him. "They're moving upstairs – quick – wake up Sirius and the Weasleys – I'll get the rest!"

Remus nodded curtly and quickly moved on to the other rooms, waking and alerting their occupants.

"H-how did they get in?" Molly asked, the terror clearly visible on her face. Sirius, however, looked absolutely livid.

"Ooh, _I_ know who, my darling cousin Narcissa, that's who … they're bloody bastards, they are, my entire family, the lot of them!"

"Sirius!" Arthur hissed, trying to calm his wife. Remus inwardly felt as shaky as Molly looked. He knew there was no way out of the house – if there were plenty Deatheater's, it'd be like shooting fish in a barrel. And knowing Voldemort, he'd probably sent enough to try any kill as many Order members as possible. _Damn!!_ He inwardly groaned. _We just had a meeting tonight – a good half of us are here!_ Suddenly his ears picked up the sound of voices on the landing.

"Moony?" Sirius whispered, instantly noticing the subtle stiffening of Remus' back.

"Shhh," and a gesture to quiet down were all the response he got, but it was enough. Wand out, he moved past Remus to the door, beckoning to the Weasleys to get behind him. The room they were in was about three doors down from the stairs; whoever was outside would soon be there. They could hear people muttering in the room next door, which had thankfully been unoccupied. A light hiccup from Molly broke the silence of the darkened bedroom, momentarily drawing everyone's attention to her.

She looked both apologetic and terrified; the muttering behind the wall had abruptly stopped and footsteps were heard coming their way. If it hadn't been for the horribly nerve-wracking anticipation of what they all knew was coming, Remus would have laughed out loud. Sirius was clutching his wand tightly, looking every bit as eager to go out and blast a few Deatheaters as he did years ago, when they'd just graduated from school and were all eager to do their part in the fight. He settled for raising an eyebrow at him instead, but with their only source of light being diffused moonlight, the man who was nearly jumping out of his skin beside him did not see the expression on his face.

The amusement quickly left him when the footsteps distinctly stopped outside their door. Remus could hear the heartbeats of the three with him, almost feel them thumping against their owners' chests as the doorknob slowly turned inwards after a cold "Alohamora". He waited with baited breath, dreading the inevitable; but a blur rushing past him told him that Sirius was unable to wait.

_Padfoot, you idiot – you know better than to…but…_horror dawned on him as he heard Molly's voice come very clearly through the night. "Expelliarmus!" she cried, disarming the Deatheater in front of her. There were more behind, however, and she would have gone down had not Arthur jumped in front of a stunned Remus and Sirius, casting an effective but quickly weakening block around them. Sirius and Remus looked at each other, mutual understanding passing between the two before charging out into the shadowy hallway, stunning left and right.

It appeared that the others who had been on that floor had already come out after hearing Molly's disarming spell, and the landing quickly became crowded. Remus was throwing out hex after hex, desperately trying to avoid hitting a fellow Order member. There were too many of them in the hall, and a few had already found themselves backed into one of the bedrooms as a result, with no place to go. _But,_ Remus reasoned as he duelled with a largish looking Deatheater. _If I can get one of them with their backs up against a wall…_

A flash of brown hair suddenly distracted him. Momentarily taking his eyes off of his opponent, he saw the woman beside him fight off a couple of Deatheaters with her bare hands. "Wand!" Remus shouted at her, ducking to avoid the curse that had been thrown at him when he'd looked away. "Use your wand!!"

The woman, however, paid him no attention, taking on a third wizard whilst still battling the first two. It was then that Remus noticed the signature MI5 jumpsuit she was wearing. The realization struck home like a thunderclap. _Sarah._ She'd left the Order almost two months ago, but she still knew how to get in to the old house. _What is she doing here?_ He thought, forgetting about the person he was fighting as he made his way over to her, determined to help. But before he reached his destination, a curse caught him in the back, hurling him across the hall and threw an open door where he crumpled against the far wall upon impact. Sharp pain exploded in his ribcage and left arm as he attempted to move after a few seconds, almost surprised that he hadn't been finished off as he lay there. Listening carefully, he realized that his opponent must have been sidetracked, and shakily began to get to his feet. Coughing up blood as he did so, he had taken no more than two steps when he heard "Crucio!" from just outside the door. Flinching in expectation of mind-shattering pain but finding that none came, he looked up, only to see Bill Weasley fall through the doorway, screaming in agony under the curse.

"Stupefy!" he yelled, feeling strangely detached from himself as he heard his voice sound so very far away. He followed it with a few other more permanent hexes before turning to the young man lying on the ground. Dropping to his knees, any sense of detachment fled when he turned Bill over in his arms. Only the signature earring along with the Weasley hair said that the man was Bill. His face was covered in blood from a nasty gash on the side of his head, and the sight of broken white bone sticking through his leg caused Remus to shut his eyes for a moment. Quickly feeling for a pulse, he breathed a sigh of relief at finding one, despite its weakness. Suddenly the very woman that had caused him to end up crumpled against a wall seemingly flew into the room, moving towards them.

"I saw him fall…" Sarah murmured, her unspoken _I saw you fall_ hanging in the air between them.

"He's alive…but we need to get him somewhere that's not quite as crowded as out there."

Sarah nodded. "Can you carry him?"

Remus bent down towards Bill and gathered him into his arms, wincing at the sharp ache in his left arm as he did so. "Rem...Remus…" Bill groaned, his face contorting with pain.

"Take it easy, Bill, just hang on for a bit." He looked reassuringly down at the redhead. A pang of jealously sprang up in him as Sarah bent down and kissed Bill's bloodied face.

"We're going to get you out of here, all right?"

Bill began to nod his head at her, but stopped when the effort was clearly too much for him. Sarah, who had turned towards the fight outside now beckoned to the two men before stepping out into the fray.

Remus quickly followed her, ducking now and then to avoid stray curses. Managing to reach the stairs without any real trouble, he was about to head up them when he noticed Sarah heading downstairs.

"What?" he hissed at her, trying not to draw too much attention to them.

"Remus, trust me on this. It's worse upstairs…and we need to get Bill medical attention. Just…trust me!"

He stared at her for a second, trying to wrap his brain around her dubious logic when he suddenly found himself dodging a curse that he was sure was sent specifically at him. Confused, he tried to get hold of his wand as he unsuccessfully searched the fight behind him for the caster. Sarah, however, seemed to have other ideas, and leap-frogged the railing onto the stairs leading upwards, placing herself between Remus and the Deatheater he now saw at the top.

"Go!!" she told him, pulling out a gun. He quickly cooperated and started to make his way down the stairs, only to find himself in the centre of yet another fight. Jostling Bill slightly in his arms so that he could at least cast a good disarming spell, he deliberated momentarily as to the best way forward, searching for a gap. Finding a possible pathway, he started forward, now trying his best to ignore the horrible pain in his arm from where he'd been thrown earlier. Jumping over a body on the ground _oh no, that's not a Deatheater…Mundungus? No…_ he paused to look backwards, scanning the way he'd come for any sign of Sarah.

A sudden, heart-wrenching cry of "_Tonks!!!!_" jolted him back to the fight in front of him. He snapped his head around just in time to see Tonks fly backwards thanks to a curse that looked as if it had been meant for him. She landed horribly on the ground after catching the side of her head on the sharp corner of a hallway table, a large pool of blood quickly accumulating beneath her. Charlie Weasley rushed forward, clearly horrified. "Tonks," he was muttering, picking her up and holding her close to him despite all the blood. "Tonks…no, come back…Tonks!! It's not funny! Tonks!"

Tears were now gushing down his face as he held her body, oblivious as she was to their surroundings. Remus maintained his own presence of mind enough to stun the Deatheater who was advancing on the two. Several hexes went past his head, and it was soon clear that at least on that particular floor, all the Deatheaters had been defeated. _Not soon enough,_ he thought bitterly, as he helplessly watched Charlie cry over Tonks' dead body. Pain engulfed him as he remembered that horrible time when he'd thought that Sarah had died – how he'd thought he'd never see her again. Never talk to her, hold her, see her smile at him, kiss her…when he'd thought she was so utterly and irrevocably gone…

"Remus!!" a hand on his arm brought him out of his thoughts. "Remus, I'm here, I 'm here right now, alive, and well, but if we don't get Bill some help fast, he won't be." Sarah was staring earnestly up at him, the tears at her friend's death belying her calm, commanding voice. He nodded and she led them down the hallway towards the front door, stopping just inside. "I'm fast, I have guns, and I'm not carrying anything. So don't come out until I give the all clear – not unless you absolutely have to."

"Sarah," Remus was more than a little confused. "When did you come down the stairs…I looked for you…"

"Hey, I managed, and I'm here. Now stay put!"

Opening the door, and slipping out, Sarah soon found herself beset upon from all sides. Just behind the thick wood, Remus heard several curses, including the beginning of more than one _Avada Kedavra_'s before the owners of those voices were silenced by a few gunshots. Before he knew it, Sarah had reopened the door and he'd fairly run out.

"Quick!! We need to get past the anti-apparition wards…at least…can you apparate to St. Mungo's?"

Remus nodded curtly at her – the pain in his ribs was coming back at him as he tried to take deeper breaths to run. "It should only be just a bit further – out of the square."

"Duck!!" Sarah yelled, firing off three shots in rapid succession. A bolt of red light streaked over their heads, and Sarah fired one last shot. Chest heaving, Remus stared into the darkness, trying to see if there was anyone else, but it appeared that the last had been taken down. Sarah looked at Remus, and they were off again, running to the edge of the square as fast as they possibly could.

"All right, then?" Sarah asked him, as he paused to catch his breath.

"Yes…we should be fine."

Sarah smiled wanly before bending down to kiss the unconscious Bill. "Get better." She whispered to him. Nodding to Remus, she began to walk away, back towards the house.

"Er…thank you!" Remus called to her, mentally kicking himself the moment the words left his mouth. Sarah, however, kept on walking, making no response as she made her way up the steps of Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Remus looked down at Bill, and took a deep breath, apparating to St Mungo's. But just before his surroundings disappeared, his ears caught a faint "…I don't hate you…" on the edge of the wind. Arriving in the emergency ward and immediately surrounded by medi-witches and wizards, he wasn't certain if it had been a figment of his imagination. Still, as he watched the bustle surrounding Bill, he felt his heart lift a little. _Maybe,_ he thought to himself, _just maybe._

* * *

Remus walked briskly through the light, gentle breeze, enjoying the warm June air. Across the London street that he walked on, he saw a mother and her teenage daughter, enjoying a lunch on a bench in the park there. The girl had short, dark brown hair, so dark that it almost looked black, all spiked up in numerous directions. Remus grinned as he looked at them. The daughter reminded him of Harry, whose hair had gotten nothing but messier over the year. _He's coming home, soon_, Remus mused. Both he and Sirius had been overjoyed to learn that Harry would be spending the summer with them, at Remus' cottage. Remus had immediately thanked Dumbledore profusely, whilst Sirius had shamelessly lectured the venerable old man that it was "About friggin time" that he let Harry come and stay with them. Dumbledore, however, had been mightily amused rather than offended, something that Remus was very grateful for.

As he watched, a small gust of wind suddenly caught a piece of paper the mother had been holding, causing both women to spring up after it. The wind, however, seemed reluctant to relinquish its new toy and led them further, until it suddenly dropped to the ground at the feet of another woman lunching at the park

She laughed and picked it up, handing it out to the two of them, who gratefully accepted it before turning back to their own lunch. Remus, however, had now forgotten about them, all his attention focussed on the young woman sitting alone. _It couldn't be…_But even as he thought it, she looked in his direction, not seeing him, but long enough for him to see that she was, in fact, Sarah Brenton. Remus stared at her for a few more moments before ducking his head and hurriedly walking on. She'd been long gone by the time he'd returned from St. Mungo's, to the horrors of the aftermath. Moody and Sirius had reassured him that she, unlike Tonks, Mundungus, Emmeline Vance and a whole number of other Order members was quite alive and well, but that she'd left as soon as every Deatheater was accounted for. That had been three months ago, and he hadn't heard from her since. Harry, Sirius, and Bill, who made a full recovery, all received regular letters from her if she wasn't away on a mission, and told him that she was doing fine, but it wasn't enough. It was never enough, not to see her.

_Funny, _he thought to himself, as he slipped into a dark alleyway to apparate unnoticed back to his cottage. _I once said that I'd be happy as long as she was happy, even if I never saw her again._ Sighing with frustration at his inability to move on, he opened the door to his home, calling out to Sirius as he stepped inside.

"Hi," his friend greeted him, face covered in grime. Remus frowned at him.

"Do I even want to know what you were doing?"

"Nope!" Sirius replied cheerfully, making for an odd sight as he grinned at Remus, the whites of his teeth and eyes contrasting with his messy black hair and dirty face. "How was your day?"

"Fine." Remus replied shortly, thoughts of Sarah filling his mind again. "Look, I'm feeling a little tired…don't wake me up, all right? But don't burn my house down!!"

Sirius attempted to look innocent, but failed miserably, a look of pure delight in his eyes. "I would never!!" he huffed. Remus rolled his eyes at him and went down the hall into his room. _I'll be lucky if he's still in one piece…_

The next day, Remus went back to London, retracing his steps of the previous day at lunchtime. As he rounded the corner, the park came into view, and his pulse quickened as he scanned it for any sign of her. His face fell in disappointment as he realized that she wasn't there. _Well, I've been here before, and she hasn't been there. Maybe it wasn't her, maybe…_his stomach gave a little lurch as Sarah walked into the park, sitting at the same bench she had the day before. Suddenly his mouth was very dry, and he found himself momentarily immobilized. _Just walk over there, Remus,_ he told himself. _Just walk over, and say hello, say …anything!_

But his legs betrayed him, and he found himself ducking his head and walking away, back to the dark alley and apparating away. The next day, he went back, and the same thing happened, and the next. Sirius was by now extremely suspicious, as Remus would come home, say 'hello', and then go to his room, shutting the door and not coming out until the next morning. On the fourth day, when Remus was getting ready to go out again, Sirius stopped him at the door. "Just do it, Moony. Whatever you're trying to work up the guts to do, just do it already. Please, you're driving me insane. And that's saying something – I spent twelve years in Azkaban, and six months goodness-knows-where. Just do it!"

Remus had stared at him, mouth opening and closing, more than slightly unnerved by how well his friend knew him, until Sirius had simply shoved him out the house, shutting the door firmly behind him. And now, Remus stood at the edge of the park, staring at Sarah. She'd looked up as he was crossing the street, recognizing him, but didn't get up to leave. Remus had felt encouraged by this, and held her gaze as he walked up to her.

"Er…hullo." He finally said, blushing furiously as he did so. Sarah dropped her gaze to the ground, blushing as much as he was. Remus could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he looked at her. She looked the same as he remembered, if not prettier. It looked as if she'd been getting a fair bit of sleep lately, as she looked rested, her skin clear and her cheeks tinged pink as she blushed.

"Do you…do you mind if I…sit down?" he asked her, tripping slightly over his words. Sarah looked up at him rather shyly, but nodded, smiling slightly. Remus sat down beside her, and, at a complete loss for words, suddenly found himself reliving memories of Hogwarts, when he watched James and Sirius ask out countless girls, always so confidently and full of charm. _Charm, right, I can do this…_

"Dinner with me?" he suddenly blurted out, and Sarah looked up at him, in shock. "I mean, that is…I'd appreciate it…if you'd have dinner with me, sometime." _Right, that was the antithesis of charm, nice going, Remus._

He watched hopefully as Sarah's shock faded away, only to have his heart sink as she bit her lip, looking apprehensive.

"I don't think that'd be a good idea, Remus." She said, softly. Remus closed his eyes for a moment, but then nodded and smiled at her.

"Of course, that's perfectly alright."

"No…you see…it's just that…I went through a pretty nasty break-up about 5 months ago, and if there's one thing I learnt, it's not to get into any sort of relationship when you're still not over someone, and, I'm not over him, so…"

Remus looked at her, not sure whether he should be jumping for joy or crying. Still confused, he got up – she had, at the very least, made it clear that she didn't want to see him at present.

"Well, of course, I understand. Thank you…for being so honest." He smiled at her, and Sarah smiled up at him, but her eyes looked both relieved and upset.

"Well, take care then, Remus."

"You too, Sarah."

Remus turned and walked away, not pausing to look at her even when he'd crossed back over to the other side of the street. He let his feet carry back to the apparation point, mind swirling with conflicting emotions. Arriving home, he was greeted by a rather eager looking Sirius, who steadfastly headed off any attempts on his part to simply disappear to his room.

"Well?" he demanded, after sitting Remus firmly down on the old sofa. "What happened?"

"She said no." Remus replied, sounding slightly dazed. "She…didn't want to have dinner with me."

Whatever Sirius had been expecting, this had not been it. "She?" he quizzed. "She? What…you've…just forgotten about Sarah? But…I don't understand!"

If Remus had been thinking clearly, he would have laughed to see Sirius so dumbstruck. "No, I haven't forgotten about Sarah. She was the one who said no."

Sirius sat down heavily in the seat beside him, obviously trying to process the information he had just received. "Ah," he managed a few minutes later. Suddenly, he appeared to pull himself together and sat up straight, looking officially at Remus. "Well, its clear that…clear that…bloody hell, she said no? I don't get it…I mean, she asks for you…"

Remus turned to look sharply at his friend. "She asks for me?"

Sirius looked guilty. "Yeah, in her letters. She always asks how you're doing – nothing big, but every single time, she asks if you're all right – but she says not to tell you." He sighed, looking at Remus. "I don't know, mate, I thought that meant, you know…"

"Hm." Remus agreed, before standing up.

"Where are you going?" Sirius asked, looking slightly put out.

"To my room." Remus replied, already moving towards the door.

"What?" Sirius said. "I only just got you back!"

"You'll live, Padfoot. I need to think for a while."

Sirius stared after him, deep in thought. _Why'd she say no_? he mused, perplexed. _Why would she say no?_

* * *

The mystery of why Sarah turned Remus down soon faded from Sirius' mind, and outwardly, it looked like Remus was no longer giving it thought as well. Harry arrived, much to the delight of the inhabitants of Lupin Cottage, and soon all were pre-occupied with making sure that Harry had, for once, an enjoyable summer. Both men enjoyed teasing him to no end at his birthday party, at which time his girlfriend, Ginny had met the famed Emily, and Harry had been beside himself with worry as to whether or not the two would get along. Remus, however, who had met Emily while on an Order mission, predicted that the two girls would actually take a liking to one another, which, to Harry's immense relief, they did. It was short-lived, however, as the two joined forces to see who had the most embarrassing story about him to tell.

But summer had ended, and Harry had gone back to Hogwarts for his final year. The atmosphere had been extremely tense at Halloween, but now, with Christmas was only a couple of weeks away, it seemed as if they were at the very least going to be having a quiet, Voldemort-free Christmas.

"Merlin, Moony, are you blind? You've been ploughing down little old ladies as if you can't see a thing! Come on, earth to Remus."

Remus turned to look at Sirius, annoyed that he'd interrupted his musings as they walked through a very crowded Diagon Alley, but the look of pure joy at finally being outside again thanks to the capture of Peter Pettigrew two months prior was simply too much for Remus and he grinned at him instead. "Sorry, Sirius," he told him, looking not in the slightest bit apologetic. "Look, why don't you pop into Quality Quidditch supplies for Harry now? I have to head into Flourish and Blotts."

"Ugh…" Sirius shuddered at the thought of the bookstore. "I'll tell you what. You're going to end up taking hours upon hours in that store, so when I'm done with Harry's gift, I'll head home and meet you there. Sound good?"

Remus protested that he would not spend _hours_ in Flourish and Blotts, but Sirius merely grinned before walking off towards the packed Quidditch store. He shook his head and chuckled, turning towards the not quite so full bookstore. Once inside, he made his way over to the section he wanted, picking up an interesting looking book and leafing through. He quickly became engrossed in it, not noticing when he was almost knocked over by a rambunctious group of boys.

"Hey, slow down there, lads!" called out the storekeeper, before presumably turning back to a waiting customer. "And what can I be helping you with, dear?"

"Yes, I was wondering if you had this book in stock?" a woman's voice came. The sound of paper being pushed across the counter floated over to Remus, who had turned around as soon as he heard the voice.

"Aye, I think we do have one in the back, lass. Right fine Christmas present this'll make! May I ask who the lucky person is?"

"Oh, it's for my godfather," she said, and Remus could hear her smiling as she spoke. "He loves this kind of thing."

"Well, let me check, then."

"Thank you." she said, and turned towards Remus as she waited. Surprised honey brown eyes met his, a small smile forming on her face as she looked at him.

"Remus!" she said, hesitantly stepping forward.

"Hello, Sarah. Getting all your Christmas shopping done?" he gestured towards the numerous bags that surrounded her.

"Well, it looks like you're doing the same." She smiled at him. "So, how have you been?"

_This is it, Remus, this is your chance. You might not see her for another six months, Remus, you can't take that risk._

"I'm fine, actually. Christmas is looking good so far, and I'm feeling well…"

"That's great! And… I heard the good news about Sirius…that's fantastic."

"It is, it is," Remus agreed. "Makes him much easier to live with, believe me!" He smiled at Sarah, feeling strangely euphoric as they talked easily, as if it had only been a couple of weeks since they'd last seen each other. "I take it you've been keeping well?"

"Yes – I actually just got back from Spain…had a wonderful time there."

_I knew that,_ Remus thought. _I read all about it in your letter to Sirius._ He was feeling so good, though, that he decided that he might as well ask her.

"Look, Sarah, I was wondering…if you're free tomorrow night…you know I can make a mean lasagne…would you liked to come to dinner?" For a second, his heart soared as Sarah's eyes lit up and she smiled at him, before suddenly biting her lip and looking down. Remus was abruptly reminded of that day in June, when after finally working up the courage to approach her, she'd rejected him. He tried to smile at her, but failed, and so simply said that he wished her the best before turning to leave the shop.

At her anxious sounding "Remus, no!" he turned to look at her. Sarah was standing in front of him, looking rather shy.

"It's just that…not that I don't want to…um…if you're not busy now, maybe we could have some lunch? Catch up?"

"Now?" Remus asked her, trying his hardest to keep the eager-schoolboy sound from his voice.

"Well, yes, at last, as soon as I get my book."

Remus stared at Sarah, transfixed, as she looked back at him extremely self-consciously. A soft 'ahem' from behind them, however, broke the spell and Sarah whipped around to face the storekeeper.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, lass…"

Sarah turned back to look at Remus, who simply moved over to her side, and began to pick up some of her bags.

"If you're going to buy that huge thing," he indicated the large old book the man in front of them was holding. "You're going to need some help with these."

Sarah smiled exuberantly at him before turning back to the storekeeper. "No, it's quite alright, thank you. Is that the book?"

* * *

Remus and Sarah found themselves having a very enjoyable lunch, chatting away and filling each other in on the various going-ons of their lives since that January. Both already had a fairly good idea of what had been happening thanks to their mutual friendships with Sirius and Harry, but, as Remus noted whilst looking contentedly at the lively young woman in front of him, he had missed simply talking to Sarah – hearing about her life from her, and not a second-hand source. Soon, however, she was telling him that she had to go, and he looked at her in dismay, not sure whether or not to ask her out again.

"Oh, of course…I should probably get home too. Mind you, Sirius is probably still in Quality Quidditch Supplies, either staring at a broomstick or chatting up some young thing who is unfortunate to come under his 'charm'."

Sarah laughed. "Ah, yes, the incorrigible Mr. Black. So, you all finished with the shopping, then?"

"Yes, actually," Remus replied, then stopped. _Maybe, maybe if I say…_ "I wanted to get it all done – although I have one small thing left to take care of…but I need to go into London to get that, so I'm making a trip of it and going to see an art exhibit at the gallery an old friend of mine has just opened on Tuesday afternoon."

"Really?" Sarah said, after a small pause. Remus knew she'd caught his meaning when she continued. "That sounds lovely…where is this gallery?"

Inwardly grinning, Remus pulled out a piece of paper and wrote the address down for her. "Alright then!" She smiled at him, pocketing it and standing up. "It was really nice seeing you, Remus."

"You too, Sarah, you too." She smiled as she walked away with her bags. Remus watched her go feeling better than he had in months. _And maybe I'll see you again._

The euphoria he'd felt at having lunch with Sarah had soon evaporated by the time Tuesday rolled around. Standing in the small but elegantly decorated upstairs gallery in his best suit, he tried his very best to appear casual, but evidently was failing miserably, as the first thing out of the proprietor's mouth was "So, who is she?"

Remus did his best to look shocked and confused, but simply ended up smiling sheepishly at his old landlord and friend from years ago. "Just…someone…I care about." He told him, wincing at how incredibly clichéd he'd managed to sound. His friend simply grinned, before patting his back and moving on. "Ah, young love." He shook his head, chuckling. "Good luck with that, son."

Remus smiled back gratefully, and, resuming his 'casual' air, attempted to wander around the room and actually look at the rather lovely paintings displayed on the walls. After frequent and numerous checks towards the entrance, he'd finally managed to become interested in one when a hand on his shoulder made him turn around.

"Sarah," he croaked out, as his mouth had suddenly dried. "Sarah, you came."

"Oh, you know I love art." She told him, looking very seriously into his eyes.

"Of course," Remus stammered. Sarah was dressed in a knee-length green dress that clung to curves that Remus remembered all too well. "Do you like it?"

"It's very nice." Sarah said, smiling now.

"Yes," Remus agreed; neither was looking anywhere even remotely close to any of the 'very nice artwork' displayed all around them. "It's very nice."

A/N: So? Are you happy? Yes? No? Review and let me know!!! -Laren


	22. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I own all of nothing, except that which you do not recognize.

A/N: Here it is, folks, the very end of Chemistry for Werewolves, 101. I do hope that you all have enjoyed reading it. A big thanks goes out to my betas, Aljinon and Swordsmistress, as well as everyone who reviewed – I wouldn't have finished this if it were not for all of you! So, without any further ado…

On with the Story!

**Epilogue**

Remus Lupin stared down at the gold edged plate in front of him, the intricate pattern catching his attention. Curling its way around the plate, he was reminded of the lock of gold hair curling through the hair of a much admired and cared for woman. Now lost in his thoughts, he failed to notice the sudden collective gasp and the laughter that followed from the crowd around him. They were, however, most definitely pleasant thoughts, despite the small frown on his forehead. Images of a pretty young woman with honey coloured eyes and softly curling brown hair flashed through his mind, smiling, crying, laughing...his thoughts were solely fixed on her. The frown disappeared as he remembered shy kisses in a small art gallery above an old picture framing store…holding hands during walks in a park…cheering wildly at quidditch games…quiet dinners in a small, secluded cottage…her smile…

Suddenly a gentle hand on his arm brought him back to the present, and he looked up into the very smile he'd been thinking of.

"Hey there," Sarah's eyes sparkled. "I don't think you'd want to miss this!"

Puzzled, Remus looked out across the large open space beyond the table they sat out to the many friends gathered there. Loud cheering and laughter filled the large room as a tall, handsomely dressed man walked determinedly across the dance floor over to where a increasingly reddening man sat, looking extremely nervous. Remus smiled widely, comprehension dawning as Sirius bowed low, his flair for the dramatic not leaving him even as he faced his task.

"Severus," he asked, holding out his hand to the scowling man. "May I have this dance?"

A/N: sob it's over!! Actually, that's not entirely true – anyone up for a sequel? If I get enough feedback, I may just do that. However, I will be going through the first 8 or so chapters (at the very least) and rewriting them so that I can post it on Wolfsbane. So, if anyone is interested in reading a hopefully better, most definitely longer, expanded version, look for it at in the coming weeks. Anyhoo, hope everyone has a great holiday!!!

- Laren


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